Kitty City Feral Sanctuary, Inc.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Kitten Season and Feral Cats
It's no surprise to anyone in rescue that kitten season is again upon us. The shelters are overflowing and the rescues are full of cats and kittens needing homes. Every day I see pleas for someone to take in this poor kitten that was abandoned, or another poor cat hanging around someone's yard, or a pair of wonderful older cats whose owners just CAN'T manage to take them along in a move . . . .
Faring worst of all are the many feral cats and kittens living on the streets. Here at Kitty City, our goal is to help these forgotten cats, often viewed as a nuisance by the general public. It seems that everywhere you look, there are wild kittens at dumpsters, starving cats that obviously need some care but are afraid to approach you, and battered males roaming office and apartment parking lots.
These cats, especially nowadays with so many adoptables needing help, are often last on the list when folks think about contributing time, money, or effort toward animals' well-being. But they are what all cats are, before we - humans - get involved and make them into "pets." Contrary to popular belief, these feral cats are not miserable. This is their natural state. In the country, natural selection takes care of population control, and the cats can hunt effectively for food. However, in the cities, they often exist on the edge of starvation, scavenging in dumpsters and dependent upon the many feral feeders that provide food to the colonies they form when they band together for survival.
At Kitty City, our main goal is to keep feral cat populations in check so these cats can have a quality of life impossible to attain without our help. We have several colonies around the city and all are registered with the appropriate city agencies. We trap/spay/neuter/release and work tirelessly to raise awareness for these poor creatures that are so often misunderstood. But we need your help!
We are completely nonprofit and welcome donations of food, cash, supplies, and most importantly, VOLUNTEER LABOR at any time. Right now, during kitten season, we are out trapping continuously. We desperately need volunteers to mind the traps. Once cats are caught, one of us will come and pick them up, have them spayed or neutered, recover them in our homes, and then release them back in their colonies - but we don't have time to sit and wait for the wily critters to take the bait. As seasoned trappers know, these cats have highly developed survival instincts and often won't cooperate. It sometimes takes several days or nights without success to finally get your kitty. All of us also run shelters, or volunteer at shelters, or do adoptions, not to mention maintaining the unadoptables that will stay with us until they die - and we all have many. We need fearless souls, preferably night people, who are willing to hang out for hours and wait for traps to snap.
Please contact us if you are one of these intrepid souls. We'd be glad to hear from you!
Faring worst of all are the many feral cats and kittens living on the streets. Here at Kitty City, our goal is to help these forgotten cats, often viewed as a nuisance by the general public. It seems that everywhere you look, there are wild kittens at dumpsters, starving cats that obviously need some care but are afraid to approach you, and battered males roaming office and apartment parking lots.
These cats, especially nowadays with so many adoptables needing help, are often last on the list when folks think about contributing time, money, or effort toward animals' well-being. But they are what all cats are, before we - humans - get involved and make them into "pets." Contrary to popular belief, these feral cats are not miserable. This is their natural state. In the country, natural selection takes care of population control, and the cats can hunt effectively for food. However, in the cities, they often exist on the edge of starvation, scavenging in dumpsters and dependent upon the many feral feeders that provide food to the colonies they form when they band together for survival.
At Kitty City, our main goal is to keep feral cat populations in check so these cats can have a quality of life impossible to attain without our help. We have several colonies around the city and all are registered with the appropriate city agencies. We trap/spay/neuter/release and work tirelessly to raise awareness for these poor creatures that are so often misunderstood. But we need your help!
We are completely nonprofit and welcome donations of food, cash, supplies, and most importantly, VOLUNTEER LABOR at any time. Right now, during kitten season, we are out trapping continuously. We desperately need volunteers to mind the traps. Once cats are caught, one of us will come and pick them up, have them spayed or neutered, recover them in our homes, and then release them back in their colonies - but we don't have time to sit and wait for the wily critters to take the bait. As seasoned trappers know, these cats have highly developed survival instincts and often won't cooperate. It sometimes takes several days or nights without success to finally get your kitty. All of us also run shelters, or volunteer at shelters, or do adoptions, not to mention maintaining the unadoptables that will stay with us until they die - and we all have many. We need fearless souls, preferably night people, who are willing to hang out for hours and wait for traps to snap.
Please contact us if you are one of these intrepid souls. We'd be glad to hear from you!
