Up to 18 cat colonies have long lived off hunting and food handouts from Rikers employees.
Every day for more than 30 years she has provided scraps and canned food to three cat colonies lucky enough to live on her way to work.
He estimates that Rome has 10,000 cat colonies.
The sterilization program gives due consideration to the delicate dynamics of the cat colonies.
Because feral cat colonies are initiated by "irresponsible pet owners," he said, "we have a responsibility to help these cats."
It had been a sad day for the cat colony when he turned up.
The cat colony was small, and these few thin beasts were the only strays in the village.
A local population of feral cats living in an urban area and using a common food source is sometimes called a feral cat colony.
Other Lido residents are bitterly skeptical, and say they believe that the cat colony will take the place of a soccer field.
All of the cats were adopted from feral cat colonies.