Feral cats in need of our help!
By blackbriar
@blackbriar (9076)
United States
November 26, 2007 6:02pm CST
I belong to a website called Alley Cat Allies that educate people on strays and feral (wild) cats and how we can help them instead of killing them all. They practice TNR on all feral cats so they can live their natural lives out free instead of killing them, which doesn't stop the over-population of cats. Here is the link to the video that they have and to read more up on Alley Cat Allies. http://www.alleycat.org/savethiscat/
3 people like this
5 responses
@brendakaya (2332)
• United States
27 Nov 07
Thanks for bringing this wonderful place to Mylot. I am a member, also, and have been for some time. They do such wonderful work. I am proud to be a member of this program.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
27 Nov 07
Your very much welcome, brendakaya, and glad to hear you are a member as well. I've been helping bring TNR to our county thru Alley Cat Allies. It's a slow process being alot of ppl would rather kill all the ferals and strays than help them but it's coming around. I have an orange cat that's been hanging around last few weeks. Asked all the neighbors bout it but noone claims ownership so I'm thinking he/she is a stray. Seen it 3 times at night when I pull in the drive and he/she jumps off our porch and hightails for the woods. Hubby seen it as well and claims the cat came up to him for a petting. Since then, I've been putting food scraps/cat food out for it but not sure if the wild animals are eating it all or the cat is. IF I can catch it, I want to do a TNR on it so it can live here w/o worrying bout extra mouths to feed down the road.
@houndsgood (774)
• United States
27 Nov 07
I have received mailings from Alley Cat Allies for some time and can't stress enough how important their work is. A lot of people don't know that a feral cat and a stray/lost/abandoned cat are completely different things. Many ferals die at shelters because they go crazy in a cage "and aren't friendly" and are euthanized immediately. People think sometimes a feral is a stray because they come close to a person. In fact, ferals sometimes will recognize and come within eyesight of the person that feeds them, etc, but will run from others.
It has been very dramatic when communites and towns recognize ferals - the cat population goes down through spay and neuter and the number of cats killed goes down exponentially because the population is in control too.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
27 Nov 07
Your right about ppl not realizing that feral cats are not strays or lost/abandoned cats. Shoot, b4 I found Alley Cats Allies, I didn't know the difference either. Now, after actually owning a once feral cat, I know the difference. Actually, he owns me. lol It's sad but so true about feral cats at shelters because often times, ppl take them in or have the shelter come out and trap them cause they don't want the cats hanging around. It's still very new in my county but slowly, TNR is making it's mark here.
@juliemarie84 (642)
• United States
29 Nov 07
I am all for this TNR. I have heard of this before. That video was sad. I hope more people get involved in this. Cats are such wonderful creatures.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Nov 07
Oh crap blackbriar, I was crying at that video. There are many programs in my state too that are TNR (Trap/Neuter/Release) and a number ofare feral colonies where the rescuers do this policy, then keep the kitties safe in these colonies once they have been spayed or neutered and many do this out of their own pocket money. I really wish there were more government programs, or better yet, funding for this kind of thing...If and when I ever have some extra bucks, I do plan to donate money. This is especially important for before you know it, it will be kitten season, where more kittens will be born. I plan to bookmark this site so I can go back to it. Thanks ever for sharing this :)
PS..I wonder how many of these feral cats are trapped though by non rescuers then turned over to labs!
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
27 Nov 07
I love Alley Cat Allies and even thou I can't make monetary donations, I do help the local humane society whenever they need help trapping/transporting feral cats so they can live out their lives kitten-free in colonies. I've never heard of TNR till I found Alley Cat Allies. I also help promote TNR in my county for I feel it's best to help them in their natural environment than to bring them inside to live their lives in misery. As for non-rescuers trapping then turning them over to labs, I don't think any lab would want a feral cat being they can't even be handled. They want tame animals that aren't mean. I got an email from them and I wondered just how many animal lovers/owners in mylot knows about Alley Cat Allies and TNR so started a discussion bout it. Glad I did. :-)
@3603dundee (1)
• United States
21 Dec 07
All cats need care - whether they are feral and too wild to be handled or tame and lost, escaped or abandoned. Check out the great resources at www.humanesociety.org/feralcats.
