Community Cats is an umbrella definition which describes any outdoor unowned or semi-owned cat, regardless of the cat’s temperament. It's estimated that Pierce County had 84,000 Community Cats.
Within this community, you'll find strays (lost or abandoned former pets who may be suitable for a home environment) and ferals (extremely fearful of people and not welcoming of human attention, making them unsuitable for home environments), who are the offspring of other feral or stray cats.
Some community cats can be considered loosely owned, meaning that concerned residents feed them and may provide some form of shelter in their own homes or on their own property, but do not always identify the cats as their own personal pets.
The Humane Society promotes Trap/Neuter/ Return (TNR), which has proven to be the most effective, humane method of reducing Community Cat populations. Through TNR, these cats are humanely trapped, vaccinated, microchipped, neutered, ear-tipped, and returned to outdoor homes to live out their lives.
Some of the TNR cats are well-suited for the life of a "Barn Cat" or "Backyard Buddy, " and they are relocated in a barn, other rural setting or an urban backyard. Supplied with food and water, a safe place to sleep and protection from the elements, these cats live out their days on their own terms, flourishing as permanent pest controllers. Although they rarely tolerate human contact, many eventually become a distant, friendly presence.
Some of the Community Cats, like young kittens, can be socialized through our Foster Program and eventually become adoptable.
TNR improves the lives of our Community Cats. By vaccinating them, a safer community is created. By neutering them, we're slowing down the population growth and also reducing fighting and other territorial behaviors. Ultimately, TNR makes our Community Cats happier and healthier.
Since the start of the TNR program, we've witnessed a decline in the number of kitten litters flowing into the shelter each spring. And when there are fewer coming in, there are more resources available to help all the cats: neonates, foster kittens, mama cats, adult cats, special needs cats, senior cats, and more community cats, too!
I'm so grateful that this program exists and the Community Cats Team is out there in the field working so hard for these cats. The fact that our HS has this program, and is able to address the needs of this population of cats, says so much about where we are as a shelter.
I do hope you decide to give today. All of our programs are important, of course, but this one is at the root of the overpopulation problem. Our donations today will make such a difference.
Our dear friend Cynthia loves the work that our Community Cats Team is doing and wanted to support the program by offering up a $5000 matching donation challenge for us today. For every single dollar we donate, she will be doing the same until we meet the $5000 cap, or until 7:00 PM - -whichever comes first. I sure do hope we can max this one out!
And you know what, we are getting so close to our big $100,000 goal, when we throw in Cynthia's matching money it will most likely put us over the top. TWO DAYS EARLY, folks! We've never done that before!
To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit our fundraising page.
I've got lots of Community Cat success stories to share with you today, nd we've got a couple of more auctions to come, too!
Tea with Bean auction ends at 10:40 PST today. And don't forget about this beauty, too, which ends this afternoon.
It's such an exciting day!!! Stick around, please! You're not going to want to miss this!
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I'm so admiring of this program -- the concept, the staff, the volunteers, the community. It makes such common sense, and I'm delighted to support it. In fact, if the IBKC community makes the match Laurie has set forth today, I'll contribute an additional $5,000 to the Community Cat program. Let's do it!
ReplyDeleteCYNTHIA! xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoo!!!! xxoxoxoo!
ReplyDeleteI've been waiting for community cat day! Thanks so much for all you do.
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