I received a call last week from a kind woman who wanted to alert PFA to a possibly disastrous feline situation existing in our downtown core. On her walks in this area, our friend had discovered a thriving feral cat colony, based out of an abandoned garage facing an alley. It was clear that this feline community had been living there for some time, and that the neighbours were feeding them and ensuring that their shelter was adequate.
What truly alarmed this woman was that she knew that the garage and the four surrounding buildings that dozens of cats call home are slated for demolition soon, to make way for a condo development.
She was more than willing to offer help, but she really didn't know where to begin, or what to do, and that is why she called People for Animals.
I contacted some of the members of our feral cat team, and asked if they could go by this location to assess the situation. Wilfred, an extremely experienced and knowledgeable member, made it a point to visit, and has now been to the site multiple times. Wilfred has found that this is truly a close and vibrant community of cats. There is a dominant orange male tomcat, and four or five producing females. There are multiple teenage kittens, who were likely born at the beginning of the summer. Then, there are the baby kittens, ranging in age from 6 weeks to about 10 weeks, many of them still nursing. There are also stray males loitering about, who grab food from the location when they can. Most of these cats seem to be feral, or at least semi-feral.
Wilfred and I have concluded that we need to move quickly. When demolition begins, not only could it possibly injure or kill the cats, but they will be left in the middle of the city, without any shelter, at the beginning of our harsh winter. Even without this crisis, we would want to begin to work on trapping the adults and sterilizing them so that they can no longer reproduce, and trap the younger kittens so that they could be tamed and adopted. But, with the construction date looming, this was even more urgent.
I contacted our friend again, who had asked PFA for help, and explained that while we very much wanted to begin trapping and moving cats, we were hesitating bcause of the cost of sterilizing the adults. She and her good friend quickly offered to donate $1000 to cover the medical costs. I was floored, and so very grateful. There truly are people in Regina who want to end the needless suffering and reproduction of our feline friends!
So now, we must put plans in place so that we can start this weekend.
We need:
*Foster homes for several batches of young kittens who will need to be worked with and handled so that they can become adoptable.
*Caring farm homes who can offer regular food, water and secure shelter to groups of sterilized cats.
*Volunteers to help with trapping the cats.
*Volunteers to help drive the cats to the vet, and possibly to their new homes.
*More financial contributions: believe it or not, we will still need more funds if we are going to be able to vaccinate all of the kittens we are hoping to save!
Can you help? We need many many bodies :)
Please contact me at badbunnygirl@hotmail.com or 565-1860 if you can pitch in.
Thanks so much.
-Sarah
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