Our mission is to help cats . . .
You would think that would be a relatively easy thing to do but the challenges involved continue to amaze us.
Besides the standard abuse that we see, we deal with people that call us for help with a cat, then get mad when we ask if they can catch it or transport it to us. They get mad if we ask why they need to get rid of a cat that they own. They get mad if we tell them that we are out of money and ask if they can contribute. For many of us it is that part of rescue that burns us out, yet we keep on. Our mission is to help the cats, and often it does have the benefit of helping out good and caring people as well.
We do not have a shelter, or a building, or a kennel, or a sanctuary!
We are a different kind of rescue. Cats come here and go to temporary foster homes for a couple weeks, where they are cared for until evaluated and fully vetted (spayed or neutered, determined to be healthy and have all vaccinations up to date) and then they are placed according to their evaluations. Any adoptable cats go on to other rescue groups that are adoption based to find homes when those groups have room. We find the rest a home on a hobby farm or property where someone has a large safe rural lot, away from other people and highways.
We agree to work with those cat loving people when they call because they are feeding a lot of strays and need help. Their cats are having litter after litter of kittens and the numbers are growing. Most those places have barns or workshops or sheds other buildings that the cats can go in and out of. A few places have walk out basements or porches where we can send semi-friendly cats that seek more human contact. We have two colonies which also have cat fencing where we can send damaged cats, like three legged cats, one eyed cats, cats with neurological issues, deaf cats, etc. We get the cats all vetted and the people agree to keep caring for them as they already are. We and the caretakers provide food and fresh water at safe feeding stations, and we provide vet care. We also provide well insulated cat shelters with heaters to keep them cozy if they choose to stay outside. The people that own the property agree to care for x number of cats and we maintain that number. They own the cats but we agree to help them care for them. We monitor each colony to make sure they are getting care. We even babysit a few of the colonies when the property owners want to go on vacation. In some cases the caregiver is a single older person without family so we also check on their well being. It’s a win win.
We don’t send cats to working farms as the dangers there are terrible, from livestock, farm machinery and chemicals from pesticides and fertilizer and even seeds farmers plant, as those are coated to protect them from bugs and fungus. Cats need to be born there so learn the ropes from mom cat, or be very smart to survive.
We don’t have places that people can come and look at cats as nobody wants strangers wandering about on THEIR property looking at THEIR cats. We don’t have any sort of building or anyone’s home where people can go and look at cats. So no sanctuary, no shelter, no kennel building.
Read MoreThank you for your interest in Stray Feral Rescue and CatTown! Check us out on Facebook at Stray Feral Rescue Facebook and CatTown Rescue Facebook and don't forget to "Like" us!!!