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Home > Out of the Cage! > September 2005 > NYC Feral Cat Council: CSM Stray Foundation: Helping Queens Become a More Feral-Friendly Community NYC Feral Cat Council CSM Stray Foundation: Helping Queens Become a More Feral-Friendly Community
CSM Stray cares for 40 cats among its three feral colonies, and nine cats in foster care with volunteers. They also provide TNR and educational support to help other caregivers manage their own colonies throughout the Borough of Queens, and occasionally beyond. The group consists of 5–10 volunteers, including three foster volunteers who care for adoptable cats until permanent homes for them are found.
Over the years, CSM Stray has become invaluable to its Queens community, most notably for the one-on-one, hands-on assistance the organization provides to area residents, particularly seniors, who care for feral cats. "We provide TNR intervention early, before the cat population multiplies," explains Carole. "We'll go out and trap one to three cats and make this project very important." Or, for larger colonies, CSM Stray patiently traps one or two cats at a time, has them spayed or neutered, and then returns them to their caregivers. This assistance is crucial, because many seniors are overwhelmed by the idea of mass trapping, and have trouble even carrying one cage. The group also provides ongoing support to local caregivers by re-trapping cats that need vet attention, building shelters, and trapping any new cats that take up space in their managed colonies. And through grant funding, CSM Stray provides spay/neuter certificates to defray the vet costs for those caregivers who have CSM Stray volunteers trap but wish to use their own local vets. "We deliver the cats to their vets and return the cats to their yard or colony," explains Nancy. Requests for help arrive daily, according to Nancy. "Whenever we receive an e-mail inquiry, we always find a solution for those at the other end by networking with the Mayor's Alliance and other participating organizations." Through it's web e-mail service, CSM Stray is reaching far beyond its own Queens backyard. E-mail inquiries arrive from all five NYC boroughs, Connecticut, Long Island, and some recent ones from California and North Carolina. CSM Stray responds to each one with suggestions and solutions.
CSM Stray also has a senior citizen shelter-building program that provides enormous value to the welfare of the colonies. When requested by neighborhood caregivers, participating senior citizens construct permanent shelters for them to use. CSM Stray provides the senior "builders" with photos of the cats who use the shelters they build. Are they making a difference in their community? Without a doubt. "We get many letters from caregivers about their cats and lots of fun personal stories," reports Carole. "These are cats that ten years ago would have been brought to shelters and put to sleep. They used to say that the average life for a feral cat was 1–2 years. But we have caregivers taking care of cats 2–13 years now." Although not its primary mission, CSM Stray also helps to find homes for social cats. "We have an adoption application, and we use our instinct when reading the responses," explains Nancy. A CSM Stray volunteer visits the home of every potential adopter. Just last week, someone "dumped" two five-week-old kittens in the area where they feed, probably assuming CSM Stray would take care of them. But the colony didn't accept the kittens, and they were later discovered down the road, under a bush — near death. "We immediately brought them to our veterinarian and had them cared for," recounts Nancy. "Since they were social, one of our volunteers brought the carrier to the workers in the area during their lunch and said, ‘Who wants to give one of these nice kittens a home?' We've already paid for the vet bill. All of a sudden, these big macho men melted when they saw the kittens and they had offers for two homes. Our volunteer drove the kittens to Bed Stuyvesant and visited the family and saw that the kittens would be very happy in the home. We've offered spay/neuter certificates to help defray future vet costs and will follow-up in a month." "Since we don't have a physical shelter, we make sure that if there are any problems, the adopter contacts us and one of the Alliance Participating Organizations that specialize in adoptions," adds Carole. "So far, we've been very successful — all of our adopted cats are in their adopted homes." As a feral-focused organization, CSM Stray does not take in cats from Animal Care & Control. But they're helping get AC&C cats adopted nonetheless: through their web e-mail, they have brought several people to an AC&C facility to directly adopt animals. And they assist others who contact them for help placing cats by promoting the adoptables on Petfinder.com, BigApplePets.com, and through collaborative efforts with other Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs). Carole says that being a part of the Mayor's Alliance keeps them well-connected to the animal community. "Our web e-mails have increased ten fold from people who live in Queens and saw our organization on the list of participating organizations," she says. "We are so happy by getting these e-mails. We share our expertise with people who have feral cat issues and other cat situations and very often help people get their pets adopted. "In one instance, we traveled to the Bronx to help an injured cat because the caregivers heard about us through the Alliance. We were so proud to be able to support the Alliance and have a successful outcome to this particular problem. The Alliance has helped us numerous times in finding adopters for some of our social cats and in transporting animals to other shelters. The Alliance has the networking power and we have the hands-on experience. With that combination, we achieve positive outcomes." On being a member of the NYC Feral Cat Council (NYCFCC), a Mayor's Alliance sub-group, Carole says, "Not every cat can be in a home. The Council supports the humane treatment of feral cats, educational programs, and networks with nearly all the organizations that work with feral cats. "We now have the left ear tip standard procedure and many of the feral cats that were brought into shelters have been reunited with their caregivers," she continues. "We are hoping the NYCFCC seeks grant funding for the organizations caring for feral cats. It's very expensive to pay for food, shelter, cleaning, and care for all the cats each day. CSM Stray has been doing this for approximately 10 years. We have names for all of our children and feel we have adopted these cats. They deserve the same recognition as the shelter cats."
Among the many tales CSM Strays could tell is one involving a Maine Coon cat. Two years ago, during a dark morning feeding, Nancy spotted an unidentified tail in the brush and yelled out to Carole, "Get in the car fast, I think there's a rabid raccoon nearby!" A month later, Nancy spotted the tail again. Then one morning, she saw the face that went with the tail. It was a Maine Coon cat. The cat wore a blue collar, so Nancy and Carole posted it as lost. "It was wild and didn't come close," recalls Nancy. "After four months, we finally trapped her. She was pregnant. She had no chip. She was just one of the many cats abandoned by an owner. We named her Flufftail. We had her spayed, and after eight months, she proudly took over one of the outdoor shelters — literally scratched her name on it. She began to eat with the other feral cats – she lines them up so she goes first. It's now two years later, and each morning she waits for the car and comes over to be greeted. She even lets you brush her! She won't let us leave unless we stop the car, get out, and provide her with some extra dry food treats. Don't let this fool you, though — Flufftail is still feral and can scratch you in a heartbeat!" If you'd like to learn more about the CSM Stray Foundation, or to donate or volunteer, visit their web site at www.csmstray.org.
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