Lubbock alley cats live harder, faster, and with more attitude than most people I’ve dated. They roam the neighborhoods at night like tiny, furry outlaws, slipping between dumpsters, patrolling the alleys, eating your plants, and running whatever underground feline operation they’ve got going on out there.
Photo by gibblesmash asdf on UnsplashMeet the Furry Outlaws of the 806
You think you know these cats, but trust me: they’ve seen things. They’ve fought things. They’ve eaten things that would absolutely send the rest of us to the ER.
Photo by Wayne Low on UnsplashThe Real Problem: Humans, Not Cats
And while we all love to joke about the feral cat gangs of West Texas, the truth is…it’s actually a real problem. These cats didn’t choose this life. People in Lubbock keep choosing it for them by not spaying and neutering them. Somehow, we’re a city full of grown adults who can remember the Schlotsky’s drive-thru order from 1998 but can’t remember to fix their animals. It’s wild, y’all.
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Photo by Frolicsome Fairy on UnsplashMy Mom: Lubbock’s One-Woman Cat SWAT Team
Thank God for people like my mom, who has made it her life’s mission to trap, fix, and release every single stray in her neighborhood like she’s running the CIA’s secret cat division. This woman has single-handedly decreased the stray population by hundreds, if not thousands, over the years. She’s basically the Marvel superhero of cat birth control. These animals don’t stand a chance against her dedication.
Photo by JOGsplash on UnsplashNo More Kittens in This Chaos, Please
And honestly? The cats are better off for it. Because Lubbock alleys already have enough drama: windstorms, raccoons with questionable intentions, teenagers trying to film TikToks, that one neighbor who runs his leaf blower at 6 a.m. on Saturdays. The last thing these cats need is another generation of kittens trying to grow up in this mess.
Photo by Deniz Yılmaz on UnsplashSpay, Neuter, Repeat! Lubbock Needs It
So while we’re laughing about the nighttime alley cat mafia, here’s the serious part: please spay and neuter your pets. It’s cheaper than raising a litter, it keeps animals healthier, and it keeps my mom from having to run a one-woman feline SWAT team into her seventies.
Photo by JOGsplash on UnsplashThe Alley Cat Mafia Lives On
In the meantime, the Lubbock alley cats will keep living their truth, lurking in the shadows, surviving off lizards, and watching us from the darkness like the tiny, dusty cryptids they are.
And somewhere out there, my mom is already plotting their next appointment.
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