|
|
NYCFCI volunteer Debbie Preto prepared straw bundles for the giveaway in Staten Island on October 16. Photo by Danielle Nasta Kitty Beat: Report from the Boroughs All across Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the New York City Feral Cat Initiative (NYCFCI) and NYC TNR organizations are humanely reducing the number of feral cats in neighborhoods and improving the quality of life for the outdoor cats in their care. Following are some highlights of the work accomplished this summer and fall. Bronx It became obvious by the number of phone calls about feral cats and TNR resources that Animals Saved by Grace had been receiving from the Throggs Neck area that the neighborhood needed a TNR workshop. So the search for a location to hold a workshop got underway. Bernadette Ferrara, Founder of Animals Saved by Grace, approached Pat Caruso of Community Board 10. He recognized the community's need for the program and approached Cheryl Dennis, director of Fort Schuyler House, to host the workshop. In fact, Cheryl generously offered to host two workshops on July 31 and October 23, and even provided a room next to the workshop for Animals Saved by Grace to hold their adoption day! The New York Post covered the story.
Animals Saved by Grace founder Bernadette Ferrara and volunteer Ildiko Spahn held a cat adoption event along with their TNR workshop at Fort Schuyler House in the Bronx on October 23. Photo by Animals Saved by Grace Brooklyn Ferals In Peril, a newly formed not-for-profit 501(c)(3) community-based organization that serves the Bensonhurst/Bath Beach section of Brooklyn, has expanded its activities to Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge. During July and August, three ASPCA Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinics were offered by Ferals In Peril to help the community with its overwhelming number of intact cats. During these TNR projects, 13 cats and kittens were rescued and six were placed into loving homes. Ferals In Peril maintains six colonies, and feeds and cares for more than 55 cats each day. Manhattan Imagine a four-month-old kitten all alone, right near the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge! Well, fortunately for this little kitty, she was rescued by All For Animals host Susan Richard, with the help of the The Humane Society of New York. Susan documented Bridget's journey from being humanely trapped to being socialized by the feral cat experts at the Animal Lovers League in Glen Cove, New York, in the October 12 episode of All of Animals, "Episode 19: Bridget the Bridge Cat."
Animals Saved by Grace founder Bernadette Ferrara and volunteer Ildiko Spahn held a cat adoption event along with their TNR workshop at Fort Schuyler House in the Bronx on October 23. Photo by Animals Saved by Grace Queens CSM Stray Foundation completed a TNR project in Queens for a senior feeder who originally fed two cats in her yard. Within two years, the colony quickly grew to ten cats, and her neighbors began to complain. The caretaker's daughter contacted the NYC Feral Cat Initiative for help. We contacted CSM Stray Foundation, who agreed to trap the cats and have them spayed and neutered. Of the ten cats they TNR'd, eight were females. Imagine how large the colony would have grown if those cats had not been spayed or neutered! Staten Island In observance of National Feral Cat Day, October 16, the NYCFCI held a free straw giveaway. Volunteer Debbie Preto coordinated the giveaway in the Charleston section of the borough. Feral cat caretakers came from all over the Island to get their free straw, which will be used as insulation in their feral cat winter shelters.
|
