Sterling Davis, an Atlanta native, thought music was his destiny until he quit to follow his actual passion — rescuing kittens.
Sterling asked for a job cleaning litter boxes at a local shelter while on a rap tour. His encounter with wild cats and rescues motivated him to be the difference he wanted to see in the world.
Sterling notified his band that he would not be returning. He committed his life to supporting cat rescues and teaching people on the need of TNR (TNR).
The only ethical option to decrease feral cat numbers is via TNR, where people may take cats to be vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and then released back into the wild.
In the process of learning about TNR, Davis came to another discovery.
There were no guys and no Black individuals working in the cat section at the county shelter, according to him. It was always ladies that trained me when I went out and did TNR with all of my friends – that’s who taught me how to do it.” Finally, I dared to raise the uncomfortable question: ‘Where have all the men gone, and where have all the Black people gone?'”
He viewed this as a fantastic chance to assist in the rescue of cats while also adding diversity to the cat rescue community.
After spending five years in the field practicing TNR and learning all he could about cat rescue, he decided to start his own business. In 2017, he channeled his experience and enthusiasm into the organization TrapKing Humane Cat Solutions, which he formed in 2017.
His objective is to “bridge the gap in communication between black communities and animal rescue/local shelters” as well as “change the misconceptions of guys in cat rescue.”
“I’ve seen rescue regarded as difficult, tiresome, and sad,” he remarked. “If people can see me and I make it appear like a rock star life, you can do it too.”
His military history, paired with his entertainment skills, enables him connect with people of all ages and races.
To better explain this objective, he says, he was in the military, among diverse people, cultures, and in entertainment. My goal is to make TNR community cat care as ubiquitous as recycling and to get more people involved in interesting ways.
He became keenly aware of the critical need for TNR programs in communities not just in his own state of Georgia, but throughout the whole nation.
He plans to travel across the nation with his rescue cats Bowie, Damita Jo, and Alanis Mewissette in the near future, advocating trap-neuter-release and assisting local animal shelters along the route.
Davis has included children in his TNR and cat rescue instruction. “Compassion doesn’t lose cool points,” he says. He wants Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to introduce a TNR badge to reach more kids.
When his music career dried up, Davis sold everything he possessed and moved into a converted van to help fund cat surgery and his charity. People saw the TrapKing logo on his vehicle. Kids would enter competitions to see his humane traps. First to text him about a trapped cat received $20, second got $15, and so on.
“I began traveling around neighborhoods like an ice cream truck,” he joked. “As I approached residential complexes, young lads offered me kittens. ‘Look Trap, I got a cat. Do I get paid?’
Meanwhile, TrapKing is helping rescued cats find homes in Atlanta via Java Cats Café. While Davis believes in releasing spayed or neutered wild cats to their colony, some are better suited as indoor cats.
His organization’s focus is on cat rescue, but he seeks to unite people around a common cause. “I believe something as unselfish as rescue may show the world togetherness and cooperation,” he remarked. “I want to state that.”