Here is a status report on Operation Downtown Kitties.
The team will be meeting at 10am on Saturday, and are planning on trapping until about 1pm.
Wilfred will be taking the lead on the site itself on Saturday. He is a founding member of People for Animals, and an extremely experienced member of the Feral Cat Team. Wilfred has an acute understanding of the nature and behaviour of feral cats, and we couldn't have a better person working on this. He has visited the site multiple times now, and I know he is already very invested in seeing the community safe. Wilfred will be bringing two traps, and a cat carrier, along with lots of treats and smelly food.
Ken will be assisting Wilfred. Ken is a long time member of PFA, and a wonderful foster home. He will be taking at least one batch of the kittens we catch on Saturday to his home so that he can work with them and socialize them to be ready for adoption. Ken has also worked with Wilfred on trapping projects before. Ken will be bringing three cat carriers, and a trap.
Sandy is a caring woman who is already fostering Coconut's kittens (and doing an amazing job), and will be taking two more kittens to foster from the downtown site on Saturday. She is also going to be one of our drivers.
Alanna will also be joining. She is a PFA member and volunteer, working on a variety of Pet Rescue projects. Alanna is bright, caring, and energetic. Alanna will be bringing my three cat carriers, blankets, and her own carrier. Alanna will also have the names and numbers of other volunteers (Sandy, Chris) who will be available and on call to come and bring cats to the vets as they are trapped. She will be bringing her cell phone for this purpose, and she will also be able to contact me that way. Alanna will also be taking photos.
Finally, we will have Dianne and Mauri, our wonderful friends who found this colony, alerted us to the danger it was in, and are generously funding the sterilizations of all of the adult cats! We couldn't do this without them.
I have called and booked 3-5 adult cats in at the Victoria Veterinary Clinic. They will be boarded from Sat until Monday morning, at which point they will all be sterilized and treated for ear mites. I have also called the Animal Clinic of Regina and booked spaces for 2-3 cats for the exact same thing so that we know we can keep on going if we have a lot of success with trapping on Sat.
We are planning on driving all of the adults that have been trapped and sterilized to the farm in Bethune that is offering them a home on Monday night. We will have a veritable caravan of carriers going, with Brittany, Mauri, and Dianne driving them out, and Cathy meeting them at the farm to help unload.
The Bethune farm is owned by an older woman who just had a brand new barn built. She loves cats, and just wants to offer them a safe space. She is taking them so that she can love them and get to know them. She can take up to 15 cats. I will be calling her daughter on Saturday night to let her know how the trapping went, and give an update.
I have still had no success in finding anyone at City hall who can tell me when the demolition is actually slated to take place. However, I am encouraged by the fact that the City permits office can't find any record of a permit being issued for a demolition on that site yet. The owner would have to apply for the permit ten days before demolition, so this means that we have at least ten days at this point.
Thanks, everyone, for all of your interest, commitment, and help. This is a big operation, and I couldn't be more pleased with how it is all coming together. I know that we won't be able to catch everyone this first time, so we will be planning another trapping effort soon to save anyone who is left. Stay tuned...
We truly can make a difference in the lives of vulnerable animals!
If you would still like to help, please do drop me a line at badbunnygirl@hotmail.com
-Sarah
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