In the middle of Rome this Spring my wife and I
happened on a 1 square block area of ruins, fenced off
but surrounded by city buildings and traffic.  Well,
ruins are pretty common there but not the 100 or so
cats curled up here and there on the broken stones and
among the trees, safe from the traffic and people.

This was the Sacred Area where the cat rescue group
Torre Argentina has its "headquarters," three small
rooms less than 6' high dug out under the street where
abandoned cats are taken for care, shots, neutering and
rerelease back into the many ruins of Rome where they
can be fed and sheltered.

Their efforts are "unofficial" and unsupported except
for donations, mostly from tourists (like us!).   And
there are, I think, about 50 sites they take care of.
We came across more in the Forum and at the Colisseum.
In fact, if you see pictures of "The Cats of Rome,"
you'll see females with an ear clipped, showing they've
been spayed and are being taken care of.

Beautiful cats.  The ones we met were very friendly,
even the two blind ones that stay inside.

The organization doesn't have much money. Who does?
But they do have a web site: www.romancats.com  so if
you'd like to see what some extraordinary people are
doing in difficult circumstances, please take a look.