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----2008---- Vol. 1 - Spring ----2007---- Vol. 2 - Summer ----2004---- Vol. 3 - Fall Vol. 2 - Summer Vol. 1 - Spring ----2003---- Vol. 4 - Winter Vol. 3 - Fall Vol. 2 - Summer Vol. 1 - Spring

	VOICE	SEPTEMBER 2003 Vol. 3, Iss. 3

The calls come in periodically. Someone has a bunch of cats living outside their trailer park (or restaurant, landfill, back alley – fill in the blank) and they’re reproducing like crazy and becoming a nuisance. They heard Animal Allies helps with this kind of problem – can someone help right away?

To date, Animal Allies has over thirty requests for help with cat colonies, and without an organized method for handling them, many have been left unattended.

It was time for action, and on August 11 Animal Allies held an informational meeting at the Manchester City Library for those wishing to help tackle this issue.

The meeting was attended by ten people representing various animal welfare organizations. One of the participants, Margaret Brender of Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, has many years of experience dealing with feral cat colonies, and offered this perspective of the issue: "the symptom is feral cats; the problem is pet owners".

Failure to spay and neuter our household pets is the number one reason they are ending up on the streets, reverting to somewhat wild behavior, and giving rise to more young that grow up completely wild. If people would just spay and neuter their pets, there would be no unwanted animals to end up in such an unfortunate predicament. By the time feral rescue groups like Ms. Brender’s and Animal Allies are called upon, the situation is usually fairly out of hand. Colonies of 50 to 100 cats or more are not uncommon.

And the situation could have been so easily prevented had the initial cats in the colony been spayed and neutered. Now rescue groups must set humane traps, send out volunteers to check the traps at least once a day, and board any cats that are caught until an appointment with a veterinarian can be made for a health checkup, shots, and altering. Once that has been accomplished, the cats are again boarded for a few days to allow for proper recovery, and either returned to their colony where volunteers make sure the animals are fed by a caregiver or are placed in a foster home pending placement in a barn home setting.

All of this may seem straightforward, but resources to accomplish these simple tasks are extremely limited. The most limiting resource is volunteers. They are what make this kind of program work, and are the difference between humane, managed colonies of limited size and those plagued with overpopula-tion, high infant mortality and inconsistent food sources.

Organizing volunteers for this task was a big part of the Feral Cat Committee’s purpose. Animal Allies already knows of several colonies requiring attention. Now we need volunteers to assess the locations for approximate number of cats, general condition of the area (is it high traffic, is there shelter), and whether the cats may be returned after altering. Volunteers are also needed to set traps, check them periodically, and board the cats once caught pending their vet visit. Still more volunteers are needed to transport the cats to and from their vet visit, and to board them for post-operative recuperation. Lastly, the cats are evaluated for temperament. Kittens can be rehabilitated to live in a home setting with humans very easily, and they are fostered until they can be adopted. Older cats are assessed to see how tolerant they are of human beings (some cats in colonies are from home settings; they have been abandoned by their owners and have reverted to a wilder nature to survive). If it is believed the cat can be tamed, it is fostered prior to permanent placement in a loving home environment. The remainder are returned to their original colony location or await suitable barn homes. For those returning to their colony, volunteers work with colony caregivers to educate them about responsible feral colony care. Adequate shelter and a constant food source must be provided for them. Again, volunteers are crucial to ensure that a support system exists for those maintaining the colonies.

The Feral Cat Committee is a critical first step in coordinating the resources and efforts of various individuals to begin reaching these animals, but we need more volunteers if we are to help all the colonies currently in need as well as the many others we are yet to find out about.

If you can offer any time or resources for this effort, please contact Kathy Peirce, Feral Cat Committee Chairperson at 603-668-9299. Training and instructions will be offered.

Together, we can make a world of difference to these cats – please offer your time to help.

By Donna Raymond

Rose Connor

Holly Pearson

Linda Rauter

Pat Sturtevant

Jody Warren

We also wish to extend a big thank-you to everyone who purchased tickets for Animal Allies’ Summer Raffle. Congrat-ulations to Laura Clayton of Hooksett, NH, winner of the customized portrait, and to Chris Golden of Manchester, NH, winner of the Hampton Beach weekend! We couldn’t have done it without the generous donations from Marlene Rolph and the Ewells of Manchester !!

Caregiver’s Corner A new column featuring personal reflections on caring for animals in need. Have a story you’d like to share? E-mail us at petzoo@monad.net Dog Tracks Mayday and I have adopted a cat. Having been raised from puppyhood with three good dog-training cats, Mayday is great with cats, but we’ve been "catless" for a few years. The timing of our new family member is related to our pending puppy. I want the puppy to tolerate cats and it’s far easier to acclimate a puppy to a cat that’s used to dogs. So it was time to prepare for the puppy. So Mayday and I got a cat – well, two cats. Here’s how it happened. I’ve had opportunities to adopt a kitten over the past few years. Our cat kennel manager, Ann, is a magnet for strays – finding abandoned litters, and either keeping them or finding them homes. Every so often she’d show me a tiny kitten, but when I’d show the ball of fluff to Mayday, he’d approach gently to sniff it like a gentleman, only to get hissed and spit at. Poor Mayday would slink away, demoralized by a kitten that could be measured in ounces. I could have gotten them past this less than stellar introduction, but it just didn’t seem the time to adopt. But two months ago, I decided it was time. I told a few friends that I was thinking about getting a cat – and no sooner had the words left my lips than I had a message on my answering machine from a volunteer with Animal Allies – a terrific, dedicated group of caring cat lovers who locate feral (wild) cat colonies and set humane traps. They take the cats to supportive veterinarians who run health tests, neuter or spay, inoculate, and mark the cat’s ear so they’re identifiable as spayed or neutered. If the volunteers feel a cat can be tamed and adopted, it will be fostered until a permanent home is found. Cats too wild for adoption are released back into the colony – protected from rabies, no longer able to procreate, and easily identifiable if they are ever trapped in the future. So I spoke to the Animal Allies volunteer who told me about a year-old feral that fit what I was looking for. I went to see him – as so many do – fully intending just to look, then go home and think about it. Of course such intention instantly goes by the boards when you set eyes on a needy animal. Part of me knew I wouldn’t leave without a kitty – and that part was right. Jonah is a beautiful, green eyed, orange mackerel, not fully tame, and quite people-shy. For the first month, I kept him in one of our cat condos at work where I could visit several times a day, as would lots of my staff, as he got more used to people. I clicker trained him to approach and touch my hand, and after a week he’d let me pet him a bit. As he got calmer, I let him out into our cat playroom, where he could play, climb, scratch and lie in the sun on the windowsill, watching birds at the feeder. At the same time, a cat we were boarding was put up for adoption. Jacob was a stray found by a kind woman who had him neutered, repaired (he was pretty beat up) and brought him to stay in our cat kennel while he healed. She decided not to keep him, and I decided that if he got along with Jonah, we’d take him. The moment we introduced them in the playroom, they became fast friends. So Jacob has a new home, Jonah has a new brother, and I went from zero to two cats in the blink of an eye. Reprinted by kind permission of Gail Fisher of All Dogs Gym & Inn, 505 Sheffield Road, Manchester NH 03103. Phone 669-4644 or visit her Web site: www.alldogsgym.com

Mobile Home Park Kittens Rescued!
They call these the dog days of summer, a time for relaxing and enjoying mother nature. But for Animal Allies, it’s the feral cats of summer, a time for trapping and putting a stop to one of mother nature’s favorite pastimes – reproduction. So it was just another day when Animal Allies got a call that some feral kittens had been found at a mobile home park. There were only a couple of minor issues: the kittens were not yet weaned, and there were seven of them. With no mothers to be found, the kittens would need to be hand-fed every four hours or so (a challenging enough task when there is only one or two to deal with!). As if that weren’t enough, it was the fourth of July weekend, and volunteers to provide the round-the-clock care these kittens would need were in even shorter supply than usual. Calls went out to anyone who knew anyone who might be able to help. An e-mail plea was distributed. Things got a little tense as the weekend approached, but by Thursday the response had been overwhelming. A wonderful woman by the name of Roni McCall was among them, and ended up taking all seven. Each one was bathed, bottle-fed and given lots of TLC. Even with her best efforts, four of the seven did not make it. But the other three are alive and well thanks to her efforts, and will be finding permanent loving homes when they are healthy enough (and altered!).

Animal Allies also offers its own low-cost certificate pro-gram. Its current focus is on increasing the number of participating veterinarians to offer those pet owners who qualify more convenience in terms of location and timeliness.

Call the SPAY line if you or someone you know needs assistance to alter a cat or dog – help is only a phone call away!

Please consider making a donation to sponsor a feral cat spay or neuter to commemorate the day. In so doing, you’ll be sparing countless offspring from the same fate.

For more information, visit www.alleycat.org/nfcd.html and get involved!