Mother’s Day marks ‘kitten season’ for us, meaning we hit the ground running to save as many cats as possible. Our trapping volunteers spend hours each day catching the elusive felines. This is a difficult maneuver, as often times mothers protect their litters from predators by tucking them in deep crevices under houses or rubble. Last week, one of our fearless trappers braved the sewers to fish out an abandoned baby. We aim to trap the mothers with the babes, because their best chance of survival is with mom. She often needs medical attention as well.
Next our foster volunteers take the family into their home. In some cases, the moms don’t survive the pregnancy or are too sick to produce enough milk, due to malnutrition or injury. So our loving fosters feed those newborns every two hours – even through the night. They often work full time jobs, but our volunteers never hesitate to give every ounce of energy they have to their charges. Many kittens don’t survive, and each loss leaves us heartbroken.
Yet nothing is more rewarding than giving that kitten a chance with a loving family.
We love each kitten we find, but our goal is stop the
overpopulation crisis through Trap, Neuter, Return or Place (TNR/P). We help the community to trap free-roaming cats and get them spay/neutered, vaccinated, and treated for medical conditions. Feral cats who
are too scared to live in a home are returned to their outdoor community under
the watch of a colony caregiver or adopted out through our working cat program.
Friendly cats who have been abandoned are found homes. Our adoption volunteers go to PetSmart in
Poughkeepsie every day to keep those cats company and encourage visitors to
fill out adoption applications. The day
a cat finds their forever home, everything we do is worth it.
Help us save these cats. Even a small donation makes a huge difference in their lives. $5 pays for a vaccine. $25 covers medical expenses for spay/neuter. And $75 can save the life of a cat who has been gravely injured.
We are also always seeking volunteers! Whether you’d like to help trap, foster, or adopt out our furry friends, here at Stray HELP we’re always happy to teach new cat lovers everything we know. Thank you so much!
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