Animal welfare advocates are questioning what happened to three cats that lived on the Adobe Acres Elementary campus for more than three years before Albuquerque Public Schools moved them to a farm in Isleta, KOB 4 reports.
APS staff member Shannon Porch said she cared for the cats after finding them outside her office and contacting Street Cat Hub, a nonprofit that spayed or neutered and vaccinated them before returning them to the school. Students enjoyed the cats from a distance and asked to refill their water bowls, which Porch saw as a chance to teach compassion. She told KOB 4 she felt devastated, especially that a pest control company was used to trap them.
As APS prepared for the new school year, administrators spotted five or six cats on campus. The district said stray and feral cats can carry diseases, leave dead prey on school grounds, and scratch or bite curious children. APS said its contractor trapped three cats and, after getting no response from the county, took them to an open farm in Isleta that uses cats to control rodents.
Chelsea Winter, Street Cat Hub’s community cat program manager, said cats relocated without proper acclimation may try to return to their original territory, putting them at risk from cars and predators. She said she was told the cats had not been acclimated, and the group simply wants to know where they are and whether they are alive and fed. Street Cat Hub said it is not assigning blame and wants to work with APS on trap, neuter and return efforts.
About This Story
Daily Reports is Brant.One’s news roundup. Each day we gather the New Mexico stories worth knowing from newsrooms across the state, sum them up and point you to the source. This one comes from KOB 4’s reporting, and their original story has the interviews and full details.
Editor’s note: Updated Oct. 31, 2026. This story is now part of Daily Reports, our New Mexico news roundup, and was revised to credit KOB 4’s original reporting. Learn how Daily Reports works in our editorial standards.
