There have been concerns that apartment residents are experiencing inconvenience due to caretakers (colloquially called Cat Mom, Cat Dad) who continue to take care of street cats.

Leftover cat food on the street creates smells and attracts insects into apartments , causing the residents to feel greater antipathy towards cat caretakers.

Sooa, who lives in an apartment in Seoul, couldn't sleep at night due to the sound of cats fighting.

She posted a note saying, "please refrain from feeding cats" on the community board, but a  repl was posted saying, "don't you feel sorry for the cats? Please be more generous."

Cat moms and cat dads are people who constantly feed or provide shelter for street cats. 

They may appear to be animal-friendly individuals based solely on their actions.

 However, residents in apartment complexes claim that they have been inconvenienced by their actions. 

People claim that the continual feeding and sheltering of street cats is growing their population, causing more noise and animal waste. .

Certain cat caretakers have contributed to the problem by feeding the cats and abandoning the leftovers on the pavement.

Additionally, cat caretakers store cat food under cars, claiming that it is a secure location for street cats to feed out of the way of passersby.

However, if a cat gets into a car exhaust to find warmth on a cold winter day and the driver doesn't realize it is there, not only does the car get damaged, but the cat also faces injury or death. .

Therefore, placing cat food under the car is an act that can harm both the cat and the driver.

One car driver said, "The cat who came to eat the food went into the car through the open sunroof. The car seats were damaged."

Though they were frustrated over the ruined car seats, there was nothing they could do to the innocent street cats.

In fact, it is not possible to report or claim damages because cat caretakers do not directly harm the vehicle.

As a result, the public's opposition to cat caretakers is growing.

An apartment management office issued a warning to a couple who occasionally fed street cats, threatening them with a 100,000 won fine if they did so again.

The couple responded by saying, "We only feed them occasionally, and after feeding, we clean up. Does this also matter?" 

Certainly, many share the opinion that feeding street cats occasionally, like this couple did, is not an act performed with bad intentions.

No one can argue that being sympathetic to stray cats is wrong, but certain members of the public say  that if people can't raise the street cats themselves, they need to be more careful and show consideration for the other residents of apartment complexes.

It is important for cat caretakers and apartment residents to be mindful of one another in order to solve this problem because there is inevitable inconvenience in areas where there are street cats, which is not anyone's fault.

Hyunjin Lee
Grade 9
Cheongna Dalton School