Need help with a cat rescue? Find a feral? Already a rescuer?
If you are looking for cat rescue information and resouces, Check out the cat rescue wiki at http://straycatsdiary.wikispaces.com/. That's a "how to" space for people who need help in rescuing or re-homing a cat, and it's also a space for experienced rescuers to share their ideas, tips, tricks, and general expertise. It will tell you everything we can think of about how to rescue and re-home cats--and if we can get other rescuers to add their knowledge, it will be everything that EVERYBODY knows about cat rescue. So whether you want to give advice or receive it, join us for the Stray Cat Diaries.
Who we are and What we do
My sister, Deb, and I are the co-founders of KittyCorner of CNY, Inc. Our mission is to help people with cat problems--or cats with people problems, depending on your point of view. Because the overwhelming problem is too many cats and not enough homes, we began by taking in cats that nobody wanted, doing all the veterinary care, and re-homing them in permanent, responsible homes. We knew, even at the beginning in 1992, that we couldn't have much of an impact. We just did it for the individual cats, like the boy in the Starfish story. We began attending conferences and seeing some of the real differences that were being made in other parts of the country and the world. Trap-Neuter-Return for feral cats, low-cost spay/neuter programs; we knew that we could have a real impact by bringing these services to the forefront in Onondaga County and in the rest Central New York State. We weren't the first, of course, so there was lots of networking to be done with other organizations and individuals with the interest and the experience. The Syracuse-Onondaga Cat Council brought some of these parties together, and after a couple of years of hard work, we opened the Spay and Neuter Syracuse Clinic (SANS). As I write this update, in April of 2008, we at SANS have just celebrated our 3000th surgery, preventing the birth of who-knows-how many unwanted animals. But we will never be able to keep up with the population growth until we can educate the public about pet overpopulation, convince them to spay and neuter their pets, and provide the resources so that everyone can comply. We also need to do more to keep pets in their homes by providing help for behavior problems--both animal and human. That's what this blog is about. In the meantime, we need more people who are willing to step up to the plate and take on a problem that they didn't create by rescuing and re-homing a cat or two. We'll try to pass along the "how-tos" in this blog as well, and we hope others will help with their comments and suggestions
My sister, Deb, and I are both school Librarians who work in the Syracuse, NY area. We took in an unwanted stray in 1992, and found that when we advertised for a home for her, we were inundated with calls from people who had found cats, or had to "get rid of" (a pharase we loathe) a cat.
In 1997, we purchased a huge Victorian house, and set it up to house--comfortably--40-50 cats. Included are isolation areas and four "community rooms" where cats live in small groups. Cats are not caged, except temporarily, for healh or behavior problems.
We are a "limited admission" facility, which means that we do not euthanize to make room. When we are full, we have to turn everyone else away. It's a horrible way to do business, but it's the only way we can function.
