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January 4, 2006
Saving lives, one cat at a time
San Jose Animal Care and Services joins forces with PAWS to help feral cats
By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer
You’ve probably seen them in your neighborhood—stray cats roaming the streets scavenging for food and
shelter. Some are abandoned domesticated felines while others have bred in the wild. They’re called “feral” but more accurately are “homeless” and two dedicated local groups have joined forces to help end the plight of these neglected animals.
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| The PetSmart Adoption Fair is a place where felines find a second chance of a new home. Left: SHAS volunteers Ann Wotherspoon holds Dixie, Dan Dawson holds Coconut and Janice Frazier holds Phantom—all cats available for adoption with Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis |
“We are excited to have the public participate in the feral cat problem,” said City of San Jose Animal Care and Services [SJACS] Deputy Director Jon Cicirelli. “The Trap Neuter Return program teaches the public how to
help. We’d like to have a handful of volunteers who can help people with ferals in their own zip codes. We’ve seen progress with spaying and neutering over the last 10 to 15 years but we need to still improve the situation. The last part of the race is the hardest.”
SJACS houses approximately 18,000 animals each year. In 2005-2006, the shelter handled 11,000 cats and euthanized almost 70 percent of them, approximately half which were kittens. The City Council passed a resolution on October 2006 that recognized Trap Neuter Return [TNR] as a humane alternative to trap and kill and encouraged the public to practice TNR.
TNR is a program in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors in cities, towns and rural areas are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated and sterilized by veterinarians. Kittens and tame cats are adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats too wild to be adopted are retuned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of volunteer caregivers.
How to tell the difference between a stray cat and a feral cat
PAWS’ specific mission is to support and work with SJACS to reduce the number of homeless animals, whether they be stray or feral, and to increase the awareness of the value of companion pets in the home and community.
It’s important to determine if a cat is a stray or if it is
feral. Observe the cat’s appearance and behavior. A stray cat is likely to approach you, although usually not close enough for you to touch. They may be skittish, but if you put food down a stray cat will likely start to eat it right away. A stray cat is often vocal, sometimes talking insistently and may look disheveled, as if unused to dealing with conditions on the street. A stray cat may be seen at all hours of the
day.
A feral cat is silent, will not approach humans unknown to him and generally will be seen only from dusk to dawn, unless extremely hungry and foraging for food. A feral cat has adapted to conditions and is likely to appear well groomed. If you put food down for a feral cat, he will wait until you move away from the area before approaching the food. |
“Pet Awareness and Welfare Society [PAWS] was asked to be created in July of 2005,” said PAWS President Randee McQueen. “It was a slow process but word spread and now there are more people involved. A grant was recently awarded by Petco for education and outreach and now we are beginning the Trap Neuter Return classes at SJACS.”
PAWS has a newly formed subcommittee, the Homeless Cat Committee [PAWS-HCC], which submitted a proposal to SJACS to start education and outreach. PAWS’ specific mission is to support and work with SJACS to reduce the number of homeless animals and to increase the awareness of the value of companion pets in the home and community.
The TNR classes will provide education on how to assist the strays by trapping and neutering the cats. The classes will be taught by Silicon Valley Friends of Ferals’ Mary Leeburg, an experienced trapper and instructor. Mentors will be available to support the volunteers’ first trapping experience. And the completion of the class entitles the bearer to a “go to the head of the line” pass for the first spay/neuter at SJACS.
The first two TNR classes will be held Jan. 13 and 20. Already in place at SJACS is a feral cat education
section. PAWS-HCC has already attended four public events and plans to continue to increase awareness. The nonprofit organization has fund-raised by silent auctions, Santa photo participation and a holiday gift-wrapping station at Borders. PAWS will also focus on spay/neuter outreach and assistance, but is still short of their yearly financial
goal.
“The TNR class will teach more people how to trap, neuter, return and care for the cats,” said PAWS-HCC chair Janice Frazier, who with husband Dan Dawson have trapped hundreds of ferals and fosters cats until homes are found. “We have to prevent the birth of more kittens. The best time to fix them is before they are pregnant. Then we need people to care for the colonies if they are truly feral. Many cats aren’t wild but are just abandoned pets and can be placed in foster homes until they are adopted. With the TNR program, we’re stopping more kittens from being born and breaking the cycle.”
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| Pearl is in need of a new home. She was rescued from a feral colony on Blossom Hill Road with her three other siblings. |
Frazier is excited about the TNR classes, hoping that with more volunteers the goal of ending breeding and creating managed feral colonies will someday come to fruition. But she knows from experience that many cats are not feral but rather abandoned. They need to be spayed or neutered and placed in foster care homes until adopted. Most Saturdays Frazier and Dawson hold Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary adoption fairs at PetSmart in Campbell. Many were cats that the couple trapped and fostered at their home in Almaden. This past weekend all 12 felines were trapped animals but are now adoptable.
“We have three applications in already but all are for the kittens,” said Dawson “People want kittens but the adult cats make great pets and with an adult you know their personality. We’re a no-kill organization so all the cats will find homes eventually, even if it takes a while.”
Trap Neuter Return classes will be held at San Jose Animal Care and Services, 2750 Monterey Rd., San Jose on Jan. 13 from 10 a.m. to noon and Jan. 20 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Space is limited. Please RSVP at (877) 729-7475.
To donate or volunteer at the Pet Awareness and Welfare Society call 877-729-7475 or write a check to PAWS-HCC, 2633 South Bascom Ave., Campbell, CA. 95008. For more information, visit www.paws4sjacs.org. Donations are tax deductible.
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