Last November, a lady in our service area fed one cat she found on her property struggling to survive in the bitter cold. Ten months later… guess how many now exist? We’ve counted anywhere from 21-27 cats at one time on her property! She loves them and feeds them everyday, but she needs help. She reached out to the Gateway Pet Guardians Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Program to see if we could offer assistance.
Our TNR Program is a humane approach to controlling the homeless cat population in the Metro East. It specifically targets stray, often feral community cats—cats that otherwise could not be adopted out into a family home. Through the program, cats are humanely trapped and taken to a veterinarian to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated. After recovery, the cats are returned to their home—their colony—outdoors. The cats continue to live outdoors, with a resident caretaker feeding and caring for them.
On Tuesday night, our volunteers kicked off a week-long project that will require all hands on deck. With limited traps, and limited spay/neuter appointments, we will need to spend several nights trapping, several early mornings transporting, and hundreds of dollars to help this Metro East resident care for her colony. Our goal is to fix all of the cats on her property, eliminating their ability to reproduce and add more cats to the colony but ensuring her ability to continue to care for them.
We can use all the help we can get as we embark on this huge project that will undoubtedly improve the lives of the cats in this colony. Donate online and learn more about our TNR Program by visiting www.gatewaypets.com/community-programs. This ESTL resident, as well as all of the kitties, thank you for your support!