Have you ever heard of Sterling Davis, a.k.a. TrapKing? He’s a passionate cat enthusiast who has dedicated his life to traveling the country and addressing the feline overpopulation crisis.
This inspiring individual was once, believe it or not, a rapper. However, he had a change of heart one day and decided to leave his musical aspirations behind to pursue a more noble cause – helping our feline friends.
From Rapper To Cat Trapper: Where Did That Come From?
A few years ago, Sterling had the opportunity to be a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show where he discussed his unique calling and the origins of his passion for cat rescuing.
In conversation with Drew, he mentioned that he had always harbored two loves: animals, especially cats, and music.
After more than a decade in the music industry, Sterling took a break from performing and stumbled upon a job opening at a local animal shelter for cleaning cat litter.
He took the job as a temporary gig to pass the time until his next tour, but he ended up falling in love with the work.
Sterling quickly advanced from litter scooping to an outreach role focusing on trap-neuter-return (TNR) initiatives. It was then he decided to abandon his music career to dedicate himself fully to rescuing cats.
Recalling the moment he broke the news to his partners, Sterling humorously noted:
“I had to call my buddies and tell them, ‘Hey, I’m not coming back because I’m rescuing kitties. And they were like, ‘What?!’”
Although his career shift was surprising, it has brought immense joy to both him and the cats he helps.
During the show, for viewers unfamiliar with TNR and his work, Drew asked Sterling to explain his activities. He clarified:
“So, TNR is trap-neuter-return. It’s the humane alternative for death and euthanasia for stray and feral cats. I catch the cats in humane traps, I take them to Atlantic Humane Society, I get them spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and I return them back to their colonies. This prevents overpopulation and spread of the disease.”
Sterling also pointed out that sometimes they encounter cats who are too friendly to return to the wild. In those cases, he ensures they find their furrever home, and become indoor cats.
When asked how he manages to fund food and medical treatments for the stray cats he rescues, Sterling explained that the Atlanta Humane Society covers the costs of most surgeries and treatments.
However, their generous support often isn’t enough, and Sterling finds himself paying for many expenses out of pocket.
As a result, he lives in an RV because, as he puts it, there is no way he could ever afford to pay both his rent and cat surgeries at the same time.
What an inspiring man and a true hero to cats, wouldn’t you agree?
Moved by his selflessness and dedication, Drew and her co-host Ross decided to surprise Sterling with a special reward on their show.
First, they announced that he would receive a donation of $5,000 worth of cat food from Smalls, a company known for its delicious, high-quality human-grade cat food.
Secondly, recognizing the personal resources he was investing in his efforts, Drew and Ross contributed an additional $3,000 to help with any other necessities.
Completely shocked, Sterling expressed his gratitude, saying:
“Thank you all so much! I’m gonna feed a lot of colonies with that. Please believe it!”
When one person performs such noble and benevolent acts, it’s only a matter of time before others recognize the effort and lend their helping hand.
I’m thrilled that so many people are backing Sterling and acknowledging the importance of his work. There are numerous ways to support his mission and donate to his nonprofit. For more information, check out his website.
TrapKing’s Mission In Broward County
Recently, during the peak of the feline mating season, Broward County Animal Care, concerned about controlling the local cat population, reached out to Sterling Davis for assistance.
Sterling enthusiastically responded and joined forces with them to help manage the situation.
He hosted an outreach event in Fort Lauderdale, where he promoted the benefits of the trap-neuter-return (TNR) program and emphasized the importance of its proper implementation.
Following the event, he collaborated with Broward County Animal Care to set up numerous humane cat traps. Once the cats were caught, they were brought in for spaying or neutering and then returned to their original colonies.
Sterling and Broward County officials also went door to door to raise awareness about their mission. Their collective goal was to assist as many stray cats as possible by providing them with food and necessary medical treatments.
In an interview with CBS Miami, Sterling explained his intention to engage more community members, saying:
“I wanna let the community know this isn’t just the big bad machine. These are people here to help you, they’re on your team to help you and your animals, so I wanted to come out here and help spread that word.”
You can watch the entire report here:
I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing about it. Sterling, or TrapKing if you will, is such an amazing and inspiring human, and there’s so much we can learn from his relentless dedication to cats.
If you’d like to see more of his work, I suggest visiting his Instagram page and giving him a follow. Also, please consider sharing his mission with your friends and family. He truly deserves our support!
