many hands make light work......

What a wonderful day we had building some winter shelters for the feral cats. Many hands, large and small, joined together to build warm homes for the cats - a refuge from the wintry climes on the shores of Lake Erie. The shelters are placed in inconspicuous areas within the existing colony, filled with straw and await the furry bodies. The warmth radiated from the cats themselves is contained within the small space and provides a comfortable place for them to get the shelter they need.

We started the previous day by gathering all the necessary building materials according to plans that we obtained from Neighborhood Cats. Of course a few items were overlooked and we had to make a couple of extra trips, but for the most part we were pretty organized. The morning of our shelter building event, all the various components were pre-cut so as to make a mini assembly line when putting them all together.

The work went fairly quickly. Each team member had a specific task and before long we were working away, cutting, applying contact paper to the interior walls and finally siliconing all the parts together.

Erin did a wonderful job on quality control, ensuring that all the parts fit 'just so' during the entire process. Adding the roof was the final step in the assembly phase.



The shelters were then whisked away to a warm place to allow the silicone to cure. The last step in the process will be to paint them in colours that will help them blend into their surroundings. Plenty of straw for those cold, wintry nights and voila, home sweet home.

Thanks to Brendan the entire process was captured in pictures and on video, so stay tuned for a couple of video clips!

feral musings....

Occasionally people ask why we are doing this. Some even go so far as to ask why we would be bothered. After all, they're just wild cats; they're such a nuisance. We take a deep breath and smile and think of this as one more opportunity to spread the word and educate those that maybe have never really stopped to consider the dilemma.

Consider why the cats are there in the first place. They or their ancestors were once companion animals and then were left to fend for themselves for a myriad of reasons. It can get complicated. At the worst end of the scale, these are the cats that were simply abandoned by their human caretakers, dropped off in some unknown location or merely left on the door step as the humans move to another residence; for no other reason than the cat being considered a disposable commodity. Certainly there are some who became lost and stray and were never reunited with their caretakers. There are those whose caretakers find themselves in dire straights and simply cannot care for them. We asked one such person why they wouldn't take the cat to the humane society in hopes of finding another home. The reply was terribly upsetting: they couldn't afford the fee and didn't know what else to do. We've even come across cases where an elderly person has died and the relatives that come in to settle the affairs put the cats outside thinking that 'they'll be just fine.'

The vast majority of these cats are not spayed or neutered so the numbers continue to mount. In our climate female cats can reproduce virtually all year round. You don't have to be a mathematician to figure out why we're in this crisis.........

Bottom line: the feral cat epidemic was born of human neglect. We as a society have to address and resolve the matter, one colony at a time.

Port Colborne Feral Cat Initiative

A small group of like-minded people decided to join together to make some positive changes for the poor feral cats in our city. Lots of good people are already feeding cats and providing shelter. Following in the footsteps of Niagara Action for Animals and CAAN, among others, it's time to step it up to the next level. We need to raise the level of awareness of the plight of these cats both within the community itself, the local government and beyond. The only ethical thing to do is implement a trap-neuter-return programme on a large scale throughout the city. At the same time we see the need to educate people on the issue and what we can do to remedy the situation, immediately and for the long term. We want to reach out and speak to the community as a whole, including the schools where so many impressionable youngsters are eager to learn and to help.

We believe that with everyone working together we can make a difference. We invite you to follow along with us on this journey.