I just read the following in the English version of the Japanese
newspaper, The Daily Yomiuri, and I thought it would encourage all of
you.  I especially love the fact that "the prefectural government gave
them protection".  I ask you, where else!
Cantate
Here is the news report:
Parking lot new home for stray cats
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Five cats are still living in a parking lot in Nagaoka, Niigata
Prefecture, three years after they were abandoned in the former
Yamakoshimura in the wake of the 2004 Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu
Earthquake.

They are being looked after by people working for the Yamakoshi
district branch office of the Nagaoka city government.

"At first, the cats were afraid of us. But they've gradually regained
the quiet life they led before the quake," a cleaner at the office
said. "They're becoming friendly toward us."

Nagaoka and surrounding areas were rocked in October 2004 by the
Chuetsu earthquake, which killed 68 people.

Yamakoshimura was vacated by all residents, roughly 2,000, within a
month. The village has since merged into Nagaoka.

As no one fed the cats after the people evacuated their homes, the
Niigata prefectural government gave them protection. Later, the cats
came under the protection of prefectural animal control centers in
Nagaoka and other cities.

In spite of the attempt by the prefectural government to locate their
owners or find new foster families, 14 cats were left without homes.

With nowhere else to go, they were brought in to the branch office on
two occasions last year and this year. When they were released on the
parking lot, nine of them headed for the mountains. However, the other
five cats apparently decided to stick around.

The cats play with each other, sit and relax in the sun, and hop onto
the roofs of cars, as if to tease those who want to drive out of the
parking lot.
(Nov. 3, 2007)