The Colony Chronicles
Volume 1, Issue 1

June Fundraiser

In Memory of Bessie Fulk

Tails of the Colonies

What's in a Word

Notes from a Converted Feral Cat Lover

Volunteers Needed

FFF and Forsyth County Animal Control Working on Pilot Program

In March of 2007, FFF met with the Forsyth Animal Control (FAC) Advisory Board and presented information about feral cats, TNR (trap-neuter-return), FFF’s role in addressing the feral cat issue in our community. Our presentation was well received and we were invited to meet with Tim Jennings, Director of Forsyth Animal Control and Matt Smith, FAC shelter director to begin discussion of collaboration.

Several FFF board members were making plans to attend a feral cat workshop in Atlanta, focused on "community approaches to feral cats". We were thrilled when our invitation for Forsyth Animal Control staff members to attend the workshop with us was accepted. Khristin, Leslie and Diana, from FFF, and Matt, from FAC, attended the workshop. This was beginning of year of studying programs in other communities throughout the country, planning and working with Forsyth Animal Control to establish a pilot program in the county to officially recognize TNR as the preferred approach to the feral cat problem in our county.

In the intervening months, FFF received a grant from Neighborhood Cats in New York for an online database where county residents can list feral cat colonies. This database helps us measure the magnitude of the feral cat population of the county and will play an integral role in the pilot program.

We will share more information about the pilot program in future issues.

After Hurricane Katrina, I watched on television, in horror, at the inept way the rescue of human beings was taking place. Email started filling my inbox about the plight of the animals who had been affected by Katrina. Best Friends, a humane organization, asked for volunteers and I replied.

I could not leave on a moment’s notice, due to work and transportation so my "call to action" came several months later when rescue operations were still in full swing. Through Best Friends, I was put in touch with Alley Cat Allies who was running a camp in Bogalusa, LA about 30 miles from New Orleans.

At the site, there was an old cabin that had a kitchen and living area, which were used for meetings, eating, computers, and two bedrooms. One bedroom was used as a surgical suite and the other held cats with special needs. There was room on the property for camping. A large shed held an enormous quantity of supplies.

For the cats, there was a very large, climate-controlled shelter made from heavy duty plastic that Alley Cat Allies had erected – it had its own generator and A/C. Inside there were seven rows of cages with paths between. Each of these rows was 21 cages long and two cages high so we had a lot of resident cats to care for. Each cage had food and water bowls, a carrier for "hiding" in, a blanketed area for sleeping and a litterbox.

All of the cages had to be cleaned, litter scooped and water and food changed twice a day. One row housed the wildest feral cats. Only those who had been specifically instructed on how to work in their cages were allowed to do so. Some days we were able to get them in their carrier, reach in and latch it, and then clean the cage, wash food bowls, etc. Some days we could only put in food and water and let the rest go.

Just as I arrived, the governor of New Orleans had decided that vets from out of state could no longer practice there without passing special testing which would be long and involved. Alley Cat Allies had planned a large T-N-R campaign – but, due to this ruling, they had to change those plans and, during that week, decided not to trap any more cats. We had a local vet who came in and finished spaying and neutering the cats that were there. Incidentally, Best Friends main camp was in Mississippi, so they were not affected by this ruling.

One day I went into New Orleans to do feeding stations. We left water, cat food and dog food. Most of the areas that I went to were completely devastated. Cars and boats were still atop buildings where the flood waters had left them. There was no power so there were also no traffic lights. The homes and apartments were boarded up and there were many homes on which I could see a water line right under the roof. I saw lots of cats using the feeding stations – most of them were feral or had become fairly skittish. Very few people had returned to these areas, though some houses were being worked on. All of the apartment buildings were abandoned. On the doors of some houses, photos of animals were posted – I don’t know if they were memorials or because folks were still searching for them.

At every feeding station, there were spray painted messages about animals that had been found there and taken, or had been see there but left because the rescues had no more room or because they had been impossible to catch. This information was to aide those who came back searching for their pets.

Most of the volunteers at the Alley Cat Allies camp took a cat or two with them when they left, either to adopt out or keep as their own. A large number of cats were picked up by Best Friends to go to their adoption centers. All of the cats were posted online, and a few were identified by owners and picked up. A rescue ranch for large cats in Texas came and picked up some of the ferals – they were planning to appropriately introduce them to their ranch as barn cats, doing all of the tasks necessary to make sure the cats knew this was their new territory. Some of the ferals were returned to the areas they had been trapped in, if there was a feeding station nearby.

My "adventure" in Louisiana was hard work, but brought me a lot of satisfaction as I was able to see what a difference I could make. I brought home two adult female cats – a muted tortoiseshell and a regular tortoiseshell. I named the Antoinette and Beignet – both cats kept their New Orleans’ style names when they went to new and wonderful homes.