As some of you know, I volunteer at Fearless Kitty Rescue in Fountain Hills, AZ. They've become partnered/networked with animal-sanctuary giant Best Friends Animal Society. Twelve of us carpooled up to Utah and volunteered with the organization this past weekend. It's one of the best things I've ever done. You can do it too, just sign up and get there (or volunteer for Fearless Kitty and go with them next year).
I'll give you the background first, give you a tour in Part II, and then show you the fun we had in Part III.
Best Friends has been around for over 30 years, gets over $60 million dollars in grants/donations every year, and with help from its national network of rescues like Fearless Kitty and county shelters is on track to "Save them all." There will always be community cats out and about (there are an estimated 70 million of them out there), but what Best Friends, Fearless Kitty, and others are aiming for is to stop the killing. Best Friends is going city by city determined to make it happen.
Best Friends is a big fan of trap and return (TNR) of feral cats because it makes room for adoptable cats in shelters/rescues, without resorting to killing (by euthanasia by the humane or worst methods by others). There are a lot of misunderstandings towards and misinformation about community cats. They are problems because they're not fixed. Resolve that situation and return them to where you found them, and they'll keep others from entering the neighborhood and colonies will eventually die out. They also kill vermin like rats and mice, and things like scorpions. Once fixed they're less likely to spray, howl, or fight - which is what most people complain about. It's working. In 1984, when Best Friends began, 17 million dogs & cats were being euthanized every year. It's now down to 4 million per year. That's still 9,000 per day(7 per minute!), but it's progress.
Best Friends offers portions of grants it receives (PetsMart is very generous) to rescues and shelters to help with adoptions and TNR programs. Fearless Kitty got one such grant last year that allowed it to temporarily bring its adoption fees down from $100 to $25 (it costs $ to feed, house, test, vaccinate, spay/neuter, microchip, etc.), which definitely resulted in more adoptions. The more it adopted out, the more it took in, etc. etc.
Fearless Kitty has attracted 100 volunteers and has saved over 530 cats since it started just 3 years ago. It is in the running for a local grant to help it in this endeavor, so if you live in Fountain Hills & recycle with Republic Services, please consider donating your points to Fearless Kitty. If you're not a local resident, you can also help simply by going to smile.amazon.com, select Fearless Kitty as the non-profit you want your purchases to benefit, and just shop like you always do. Oh, and fix your pets!
There. That's the background. I came on the trip because I may want to do TNR, rescue, or even run a sanctuary myself someday, so wanted to learn from the best. I also just wanted to have fun.
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