Time for TNR

As soon as school let out at the end of May, I wanted to get a TNR project underway. Considering we are already well into "kitten season", I wanted to move fast. I teamed up with Shawn, of North Brooklyn Cats, to tackle a few colonies that have been keeping us up at night.

One was the back yard of a fabric store in Astoria.

This guy, Fluffy, was already neutered, he lives inside the store.

The owner says he walked in the store from the back yard one day

and he's been the friendly store greeter ever since!

Here we TNR'd 5 adults and took in 2 kittens.

These cats are well taken care of and loved dearly by the owners of the store.

They were all gorgeous too!

Tweed

Silk

Gabardine

Angora

And the 2 little ones are Burlap and Dungaree!

(They will be fostered by me, Big City Little Kitty,

until they find their new forever home)

Next on our list was a parking lot in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

We picked up 4 males (big ones) and 2 females.

The males are...

Impala

Humvee

Chevelle

Charger

And the females...

Shelby

And shy little Saab

Then we got a couple from some partially TNR'd colonies;

Calendula from Greenpoint

and Kiddo from Astoria

So that put us up to 13, but we needed 20

to fill our minimum 20 slots for the clinic to provide transport.

So we opened it up to other trappers and rescuers in the area.

We added 2 kittens found in someone's back yard,

a mom and her 3 kittens trapped in Queens,

and this little cutie found in someone's back yard in Queens, Peggy.

She already had a home lined up at this point and just needed to by spayed:)

Off to the clinic they went!

And 20 cats/kittens were returned to me spayed, neutered and healthy!

Ferals were released and friendlies were returned

And then there were none

We'd like to thank the person that sponsored this project,

the person that let us use their space to hold and recover the cats,

Lisa for helping us get set up

and Alan for helping with trapping, recovery and clean up!

It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort!

More pictures and more of their stories can be found on my Flickr Photostream:

TNR June 2011 Set

If you are doing TNR in your area please send me your story and pics!

I would love to share it!

If you want to perform TNR in NYC, take the TNR Workshop hosted by Neighborhood Cats

Here you will learn the how, what, where, when and why of TNR and feral cat colony management!

The New York City Feral Cat Initiative is another resource

When you are ready to begin, you may need help with funding. Never underestimate the power of a community bake sale! Have one at your local pet store, on your block, at the bar, wherever they will let you set up! You can also set up something like a Chip In for people to help! Share what you are doing on Facebook and Twitter, you may even find some volunteers to help!

Good luck out there!

Pit Puppy Post!

My coworker just found this posted on the Daily Beast:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-11-01/dangerous-dogs-ranked-by-breed-pit-bulls-chows-chows-lead/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR2

As a pit/lab owner she was of course pissed!

She is a responsible dog owner that has done her homework and uses positive reinforcement training and love to care for Dash, her adorable pup.

She wrote to me:

"And unfair opinion... someone forgot to mention that dogs aren't born mean, they're made mean... BOOOOO"

Here is my friend's Pit/Lab mix (#s 1 and 29 on this danger list). He was abandoned and she adopted him from Animal Haven. Does he look dangerous to you? Honestly, the only danger I see is the DANGEROUS LEVEL OF CUTENESS!

Yes! He is hugging his baby!

I won't get into all the reasons this article is BS, read the comments and see for yourself. I do know that I agree with my coworker that animals are not born mean, they are made mean by irresponsible, uncaring humans. What number are they on the danger list?

SaveKitty Needs Garage for TNR

From the SaveKitty Newsletter:

"We need a garage for rent, barter (or free)

SaveKitty is desperately looking for a garage or other appropriate space to hold cats before and after their spay/neuter surgery.

It must be in Queens.

Please ask everyone you can think who might have, or know of, such a place.

Inquiries can be sent to me at rosaryzap@aol.com

Rosary Immordino"

http://www.savekitty.org/

SaveKitty is a TNR/Rescue group that performs trap/neuter/release for cats in NYC. They are a reputable rescue group and they do some pretty amazing things for the community cats of NYC. They also take in the friendlies and kittens along the way to find them homes. Check out their website for more information. If you can help with the request above or are looking to foster or adopt please contact Rosary at rosaryzap@aol.com.

Final Ravenswood Email Update!

Well done SaveKitty! Thank you from all of us!

If you would like to see more of their journey please visit their website at savekitty.org/

Click on "Ravenswood" to see their work on this project. If you would like to help, they need foster homes, forever homes and donations.

Meet SaveKitty, Rosary and Debi, in person this Saturday at Tequila Sunrise Mexican Bar and Restaurant and join in the celebration of their accomplishment (details below).

Here is the FINAL Ravenswood email update from SaveKitty!

RAVENSWOOD Update: Thursday, 9/9/10

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Debi and company went back into the last building yesterday. After thoroughly searching every inch, with no sign of cats -- live or dead -- we determined that there are no animals remaining in that building. We have to assume that the cats escaped on Thursday when the plumbing company was servicing the crawl space. So our rescue mission at Ravenswood has come to an end, at least for now. (Of course, we'll monitor the situation and if we hear that any cats have gotten back in a crawl space when workers leave the doors open, we will go back in and rescue the cats.) So we were thinking . . . so many of you have been part of this effort that we'd like to celebrate our success with you. We did not accomplish this on our own. Yes, Debi Romano is, in my opinion, a hero, and it is her passion that was the driving force behind this effort. But Debi and SaveKitty did not do this alone. We never would have had the opportunity to rescue those cats if you, our supporters, had not made the phone calls and sent the emails that got us the media attention we needed to get city hall to take notice. Even if you only passed on our emails to others, then you were part of this success. And the emotional support and encouragement you gave us daily was just as important. You cheered with us when we got a cat out and cried with us when we had bad news. We see this as a time for celebration, for closure, perhaps even a time to share sadness over the ones who didn't make it. And for me, personally, a time to meet and connect with so many of you whom I feel I've come to know a little bit through this ordeal. We want to share this experience with you while it's still fresh. So, if you can make it, please meet us for drinks Saturday night. Meet Debi Romano and some of the other Ravenswood "Crawlers". And celebrate what all of us, together, have accomplished. Date: Saturday, September 11th Time: 7:30 pm Place: Tequila Sunrise Mexican Bar and Restaurant 40-01 Northern Boulevard Long Island City, NY 11101 Directions by Subway: The closest train station is the 36th Street stop on the R train, just two stops from 59th and Lexington for those of you coming from Manhattan. Get on the front end of the train going towards Queens. (There is also a 36th Street stop in Brooklyn.) It's just a few short blocks from there, on the left, on the corner of Northern Blvd & Steinway street. Hope to see you there. Rosary Immordino Executive Director SaveKitty Foundation

This email was sent by SaveKitty Foundation

Ravenswood Cats Project Email Update 9/8/10 from SaveKitty

RAVENSWOOD: Update Wednesday 9/8/10

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Last Friday we told you that we suspected there were 1 or 2 more cats in building 22, the last building to be searched. Over the weekend, traps were set and food was left -- both inside and outside of the traps. The traps were checked twice daily, but there were no signs of cats having eaten any of the food. Tuesday morning Debi and the NYCHA workers searched every inch of that building and found no sign of cats at all -- not even dead cats, thankfully. They may have gotten out when maintenance workers were in there Friday. Although SaveKitty volunteers stood watch Friday from early morning until late afternoon and again late at night to see if any cats escaped while the doors were open during maintenance, there were some evening hours that we couldn't be there. (NYCHA hadn't anticipated the maintenance to take that long so we didn't have coverage for those hours.) So . . . we are guessing that the 1 or 2 cats we were looking for may have escaped on their own. Nonetheless, we're going back in there today. Debi and NYCHA will again search every inch of that building. We'll let you know later what we find. (I'm sorry this update is so late. It was supposed to get to you yesterday but, for tecinical reasons, did not.) Rosary Immordino Executive Director SaveKitty Foundation

This email was sent by SaveKitty Foundation