Idée acf3427:

Help Save The Cats

Affichée le novembre 7, 2009

• Auteur : Maxine Sidran
• Organisation: The Annex Cat Rescue
• Endroit : Toronto, Ontario
• Catégorie : Revitalisez votre quartier
• Coût : À petit budget (moins de 10 000 $)

The Annex Cat Rescue

Oreo, a little black cat with a white smudge on her chest, was born in a back-lane feral colony in Toronto’s Kensington Market area. There are thousands of these colonies in Toronto, and the numbers keep growing.

When an Annex Cat Rescue volunteer first saw Oreo the cat was thin, limping and exhausted. Cats like her wind up in colonies through abandonment, running from abusive owners, straying, and, in far too many cases, having been born to feral mothers.

Life for Oreo and other colony-dwellers is not easy. It’s one of hunger, injury, frost bite, abuse, illness and attacks by bigger animals and humans; a constant search for food, water, safety and warmth.

In summer, they survive by eating garbage and drinking water from puddles and gutters. In winter, when the only water is frozen, and they are desperately thirsty, they will drink spilled anti-freeze, which tastes sweet but damages their kidneys.

Annex Cat Rescue (http://www.annexcatrescue.ca), a registered charity for the past ten years, exists to make sure fewer cats are forced to live this way. Through a program called TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return), we vastly improve their lives by humanely trapping these skittish felines and taking them to veterinarians to be spayed or neutered. Following the surgery and a recovery in foster homes, the adult cats are returned to their colonies,

How does this better their lives? Although they continue to live wild, each spay or neuter reduces the future population of the colony. An un-spayed, female as young as six months old can produce litters every few months, and, as her kittens have kittens who have kittens, can be the source of many thousands of unwanted cats in just five years.

For feral females like Oreo, spaying means no more trying to fend for themselves while protecting and nursing litters of kittens.

For the males, neutering means no more stress or serious injury from fighting for control of the colony. For all the cats, it means less struggle for minimal resources.

Why return the adults? Beyond a certain age, feral cats will not warm up to human company and so can never become house pets. But once an entire colony has been spayed and neutered, life for the cats there is much more humane.

Annex Cat Rescue volunteers visit the colonies every day, bringing food and water for the group. If any cat looks sick or injured, we trap them and take them to a vet for medical treatment.

By reducing the cats’ suffering, Annex Cat Rescue helps make the city a cleaner, more tranquil place for its human population. Ferals, when healthy and managed, are hard workers, keeping the mice and rat populations under control.

Another happy note: Stray pregnant females are kept in foster homes until their kittens are born. After being weaned, the little guys are put up for adoption. If they’re still with us when they, themselves, are able to reproduce, we spay or neuter them as well. We are a no-kill organization, and the handful of our cats who don’t get adopted live out their lives (which are long and comfortable) in their foster homes.

But this rescue work costs money. The government gives us no financial help. We fund-raise all year long, but it’s never enough to provide TNR for all the cats in need.

Even though we have relationships with sympathetic veterinarians who offer us cheaper-than-average medical care, one spay/neuter can cost between $150 and $350 (depending on the age, sex and health of the cat).

A $10,000 grant would spay/neuter 50 cats.

When an ACR feeder met up with Oreo recently, the little cat was plumper, more relaxed and running around on four good legs. With help from you, there will be many more stories like Oreo’s in Toronto.

Help Us Save the Cats

• 

  Oreo
  
  novembre 12, 2009 @ 2:35

  
  
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  Oreo
  
  novembre 12, 2009 @ 2:35

  
  

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Seuls les 1000 commentaires les plus récents sont affichés.

• Dyanadana

  I'm so touched by this group's efforts to take care of so many feral cats. If the people at the Annex Cat Rescue are able to get enough money to have even 50 cats spayed or neutred, it will mean that a relatively small amount of money from the Aviva Fund can make a huge difference - for the health of the cat colonies, and the health of this neighbourhood. Thanks to Aviva for providing this opportunity.
  novembre 15, 2009 @ 8:54 EST

  
  

• Lee

  This group does so much for feral cats. The money would make a huge difference to them.
  novembre 15, 2009 @ 9:55 EST

  
  

• Benjamin

  The Annex Cat Rescue team has been working hard for over ten years to help feral cats --- they "need a little help from their friends".
  novembre 15, 2009 @ 1:27 EST

  
  

• Lee

  I can't say enough good things about this dedicated group. On limited resources and a great deal of heart they have made so much of a difference to the stray cats that have appeared in our neighbourhood (one of so many) over that last few years - mostly due to abandonment. The fund grant would be a tremendous boost to those resources.
  novembre 16, 2009 @ 12:49 EST

  
  

• Gondosan

  This is a great cause. The Annex Cat Rescue's work is difficult and time-consuming. They deserve our support.
  novembre 17, 2009 @ 8:20 EST

  
  

• R

  My fiance volunteer's for Annex Cat Rescue and I support her and ACR 100%. This is excellent cause and more people should be aware of what you guys are about and how much effort is put in to help these ferals. You most definitely have my vote.!!! Good Luck..!!
  novembre 17, 2009 @ 12:04 EST

  
  

• Nancy

  Annex Cat Rescue has been doing such fabulous work for so many years now. Sadly, there are always more cats who need help. I hope that ACR receives this grant to support them in their work!
  novembre 17, 2009 @ 6:09 EST

  
  

• Renia

  ACR achieves a lot with very little. This grant would be a tremendous help for them.
  novembre 18, 2009 @ 11:13 EST

  
  

• Buzz

  I hope all the e-mails I've sent come to fruition, and enough is raised to hell oue feline friends!
  novembre 18, 2009 @ 12:44 EST

  
  

• MaxWedge

  Fanatastic initiative - hope they get the money - it is well deserved
  novembre 18, 2009 @ 1:18 EST

  
  

• Godfrey

  These people are amazing with the work they do, and they do it on a shoestring .... never enough. My vet has a basket of little catnip pouches on the front desk that are handmade by someone in the group to try to raise funds. They work that hard .... but the population of strays is large .... catnip pouches can't begin to cover the costs ... and it is such a benefit to the community to have the cats under control. They definitely get my vote.
  novembre 18, 2009 @ 7:51 EST

  
  

• jill.lloyd-j

  Absolutely, and the work they do makes our city a better place to live in because they care about those for whom being cared for is a lost concept. As it is run by volunteers, unlike some groups, and there is no paid person to write grants for funding, it is so important to support the work that they do . They have helped many of the feral and stray cats in my community and any funding will go a long way to relive the misery and suffering of those who cant help themselves. I am voting every day for this group!
  novembre 19, 2009 @ 12:06 EST

  
  

• SunshineDog

  This idea is Great I love CATS!!
  novembre 22, 2009 @ 5:52 EST

  
  

• Jacqueline

  I volunteer with Annex Cat Rescue, and it is one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences I have ever had - when I go out late at night on a snowy winter night to take food to the cats on my Kensington Market feeding route, and see some of them patiently waiting by their bowls for their dinner, my heart just melts. It's terrible that so many cats live in rough conditions on the street due to being mis-treated, abandoned or born there, but being able to help make their lives a little easier is so rewarding. As many of the cats as possible are placed in foster care and adopted out when they are ready, but a great team of volunteers do all they can to help make life on the street easier for the ones that are too scared of humans, by trapping and spay/neutering them to limit future suffering, vaccinating them against disease, and getting them veterinary care when the risks and dangers of street life catch up with them. Sometimes these scared and feral cats grow to trust us enough th
  novembre 24, 2009 @ 1:25 EST

  
  

• Jacqueline

  ... that we can eventually get them off the street - all 3 of my cats are street rescues, and the newest is a sweet black cat that was living on a roof in a College Street alley, until one day I went to feed him and he climbed into my lap and purred. He is now the sweetest, most loving and affectionate cat I have ever had - he clearly was someone's pet at one point, but something happened that resulted in him living alone on the street, scared of people. It just took a certain amount of love and care for him to learn to trust again after whatever he had been through. I am so glad that Annex Cat Rescue gives these deserving cats second chances! Thank you for your vote!
  novembre 24, 2009 @ 1:27 EST

  
  

• kyraa

  I WOULD LOVE TO HELP YOUR GROUP OUT!
  novembre 25, 2009 @ 1:19 EST

  
  

• betelgeuse

  Annex cat rescue is the only rescue organization that I support. Whenever someone asks where can I go to get a cat. I tell them Annex cat rescue without hesitation. They are the only rescue organization that has stepped forward to help with the feral population within the GTA and has done a good job.
  novembre 29, 2009 @ 9:18 EST

  
  

• Cara

  The Annex Cat Rescue is a very smart, efficient and effective rescue group. ACR has volunteers working in all the key areas to tackle cat welfare problems from all angles -- fostering, screened adoptions, spay/neuter work and feral colony feeding. With this grant, ACR volunteers could accomplish even more.
  novembre 29, 2009 @ 11:35 EST

  
  

• Roger

  The ACR has, in my experience, shown tremendous commitment to cat welfare. And I don't just mean that they are interested in temporary fixes -- they have fosterers who allow a bathroom in their home to be a new place for a cat that is potentially feral but may be socialized, if given the chance. And it is only when the organization has its general meeting that I realize how many people volunteer their time at truly weird hours to feed and monitor colonies, and when appropriate, trap to help reduce the number of homeless kittens. The other thing that makes ACR special in my opinion is that it has a "once an ACR cat, always an ACR Cat". The group accepts its responsibility to those cats under its care. That's how we got our beloved Buddy!
  novembre 29, 2009 @ 11:58 EST

  
  

• Meagan

  Please help the Annex Cat Rescue save the helpless cats of Toronto, the cats have no one else. Keep up the good work Annex Cat Rescue.
  décembre 7, 2009 @ 9:34 EST