The felines of Disneyland

Outside Disneyland’s gates, in a dense Anaheim neighborhood northeast of the park, Andria Garcia tends nightly to about 10 cat colonies. “My ferals,” she calls them. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

April 26, 2015 12:52 PM PT

In a theme park that trades heavily on the world’s most famous mouse, it’s the cats of Disneyland who seem to have the run of the place. They slink beside the tram, wrestle in the Disneyland Hotel gardens and hide beneath the Splash Mountain logs. And after the park empties out and the gates close, they roam the park freely -- an indulgence that not even the paying guests usually get to experience.

Andria Garcia and other animal activists are worried about a recent law that forbids feeding feral cats. Last month the Anaheim City Council approved new language for the law, clarifying how feeders could get approval and setting standards for proper feeding. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

Andria Garcia says that if she won the lottery, she would build herself a house surrounded with little cat condos. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

Three feral cats eat from the food that Andria Garcia has set out for them. Like a feeder at Disneyland, she has to move quickly. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)