Port Colbourne Feline Initiatives

Monetary Donation | Article by: Cindy Cherry

So to show that Don Cherry’s Pet Rescue Foundation believes in supporting all types of organizations we chose to donate to  Port Colbourne Feline Initiatives. A very informative organization that explains the need for “sneuter programs”.  Now that is a new word, that I, Cindy Cherry, an experience speaker  of the value of spay and neutering your pet, has never heard before.

Besides emphasizing the importance of “fixing” your pet they are also involved in the issue of the Feral Cats.  This issue of outdoor cats is not a new phenomenon, for cats have existed alongside humans for 10,000 years.  As long as people realize these wild cats are not adoptable and do not belong indoors. Much to the contrary of my friend in  Kingston that thought she was doing these cats a favor by protecting them from the harsh world, as there was a known predator in the neighborhood called a Fisher (a weasel type animal, even larger than a marten).  We sat outside, while these poor cats whaled, moaned and cried to get out.  I tried to explain to her the philosophy of feral cats, but she saw me as an unfeeling person that didn’t care if these cats lived or died.  As we sat there having tea in this beautiful garden along the lake, a lady came by asking if we’d seen her  domesticated cat.  No doubt it had become  Marten bait and my friend looked at me, as if she had proved her point.  I was in a no win situation.  The only humane, effective and fiscally responsible approach in this free-rooming cat issue is to instill a TNR program.  Which means Trap, Neuter, and Release these cats.  This remedy also includes vaccinating these cats, plus ear tipping them, which is the universal symbol of which cats have already been in the program.

I learned this by asking why do all these cats have mangled ears, they sure must fight a lot.  Needless to say the trappers just shook their head and said, “rookie”.  Please check www.pcferalcats.org  for their many great programs including The Big Fix, Snap (spay/neuter assistance program), KitKat Foster Program, Jobs4Cats, Adopt a Port Purrsonality, Unselfie4CatsCampaign, or their numerous up and coming events, or better yet….check out: Neighborhoodcats  for some great info on how you can care for a colony of feral cats, including how to build an appropriate shelter for them.