Needed: BARNS
By Nancy Turner
The Dalles, Ore., May 12, 2024 —If you and I open our homes to all the feral cats and kittens in town, we’d soon have a clowder.
Also known as a clutter, a glaring, or a pounce.
I call it a disaster.
Donovan
Years ago Sally Donovan co-founded Columbia Gorge Cat Rescue. She was well known for her passion for saving homeless cats, getting them fixed, and finding them homes. Though Sally is no longer alive, volunteers continue her work. Their mission is to help lower-income people take care of pets.
The bad news is that an unaltered female, with a lifespan of two to eight years, can become pregnant as young as four months. She can produce two or three litters each year. This can add up to a staggering two hundred kittens.
The good news is that Trap-Neuter-Return, (TNR) is a proven method to manage overpopulations. Feral cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, and vaccinated. They are “ear tapped” to show they’ve been fixed, and usually returned to the colony they came from.
This method of birth control prevents thousands of baby kittens from being born into a life of grim desperation.
Right now the most urgent need is to find barn owners to take a few cats from a colony of fifty.
I call it, “Barns for Babies.” When cats are re-homed in barns they end up in a safer environment than out in the wild. At first, they need someone willing to feed them for a month of confinement in a barn. This gives
cats time to adjust to their new surroundings. Once they feel at home, they will stay, and become good rodent hunters.
Do you have a barn? Will you shelter cats? Maybe you know someone who could help out? If so, please contact John Gardner, President of Sally’s Cat Fund, at Sallyscatfund@gmail.com
There’s always a need for money to pay vets. Sometimes cats are sick or have injuries. This costs extra. If you want to help financially, their website is www.sallyscatfund.org/how-you-can-help.
You won’t get a thank-you note from a rescued cat, but you will know in your heart that you gave a cat, (or several) a better life. And think of the unborn kittens who will not suffer the fate of being a stray.
We can alleviate suffering by assisting Sally’s Cat Fund. I’m asking you to lend a hand.
Better yet, a barn.
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