The Perfect Rose Stray Cat Education, Information and Resources Page
The Perfect Rose Cat Colony 2016 |
I have decided to create a special page on my website especially for The Hamilton, Ontario, Stray Cat Colony that I have been assisting and for the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Community.
This page and various pages attached to it will have links and resources to assist people in assisting, caring for the community stray cats and reducing the cat over population.
It is always nice to find some support with other likeminded people who are wishing to achieve a similar goal!!!
A List To Educate and Empower You About What Is Available
To Assist Our Community Cats
NOTE:I also would like to share with you that I did have an interview on Cable 14 about being a feral colony cat caregiver on November 30th and it replayed on December 1, 2016 on a show called City Matters. I think it is still available on demand if you have access to the cable network and want to watch the interview.
http://www.cable14.com/
Where To Register To Be A Legal Cat Colony Caretaker
Many people have been afraid to assist the animals because of the various Hamilton, Ontario City By-Laws and do their silent contributions for the animals in their area in a discrete way. By becoming a Registered Colony Cat Caregiver with the SPCA, this gives you a right and an opportunity to take an interest in the animals in your neighborhood without interfering with the current laws that are in place.
In my heart I believe that we as a city will come together and find a workable solution to this problem that directly and / or indirectly is affecting everyone in our city!
If a smaller City like Windsor, Ontario and a larger City like Toronto, Ontario have found an affordable, workable way to assist their strays I am sure we can too!
Links To Lost and Found Facebook Groups and
Free Helping Lost Pets Website
I wanted to share with you some of the things I have learned on my journey from feeding just a few stray cats and taking on the whole colony of cats in my neighborhood! I want to suggest to anyone that is afraid about reaching out (because of the past horror stories about The City of Hamilton Animal Control) or does not have much knowledge about the computer. In truth, there are some amazing resources in place to assist you if you have lost an animal or have found an animal. There are also some wonderful programs managed by some pretty amazing people to make lots of resources available to fix and chip our loved community pets at reasonable rates. The animal rescues are working diligently to assist in Trapping and Neutering (TNR programs, “Trap Neuter and Release”) various areas of our communities and are also working diligently to find foster care and homes for these animals! If I mention some rescues and not others please don’t think I am favoring some over others. I am just mentioning the resources that have assisted me directly or indirectly.
What To Do If You Lose A Pet
-
1) Post on a free website called “Helping Lost Pets”. This is an amazing website that actually assists you in putting in various important details and also creates very nice looking posters that you can post or print and place in your neighborhood. It can be a bit intimidating at first but after you see the results you will be so glad that you found this resource!
-
2) Kijiji Free classified ads have a Lost and Found area specifically for animals! Make sure you post in both areas because many people from rescues and others that are interested in assisting seem to look through these resources which help to have other eyes in place to assist you!
-
3) Facebook and Facebook groups! There are 2 groups I know of for sure and when you post the “Helping Lost Pets” link they share it among the community! At that point you can share the link with your own friends on Facebook and pretty soon you have a huge support in place that you would not have had otherwise! Group 1
"Hamilton's Lost and Found Pets"
;
Group 2 "Lost and Found Pets Hamilton Ontario"
-
4) After you do all of this then you have to keep checking and reposting.
What To Do If You Find A Pet
-
1) It’s almost the opposite! You go to the free Kijiji ads and see if the pet has been posted!
-
2) You check the “Helping Lost Pets” website or go to the Facebook Groups mentioned earlier and scroll through to see if the animal has been posted there by the owner! If you can catch the animal and get them to the vet safely the goal then is to see if they have a chip. I really feel the chip idea is a great idea and I think all animals would benefit by this (as long as the owners keep their information up to date).
-
3) This is when you take pictures of the animal and go to the “Helping Lost Pets” website.
-
4) Go to the Kijiji ads website and post the similar information there in the “Lost and Found” area.
-
5) Post these various ads in the Facebook groups and if you feel guided to you can print the posters and place them in your neighborhood as well! I know we are all busy but you will feel guided the best route to take!
My Lost and Found Pets
"Litttle One" Lost November 2016 |
"Tuxedo" Found November 2016 |
How To Best Assist Hamilton Community Stray Cats
"Many people mistakenly think that feral cats refer to all stray cats. Cats that are seen roaming on the street are often runaways or neglected cats that have had contact with humans and are not true feral cats. Another mistaken opinion is that feral cats are wildlife. As written in our Policy Statements, the CFHS recognizes that feral cats cannot be defined as 'wildlife' in that they are not a naturally occurring wild species. Rather, feral cats are descended from domestic animals that, due to human neglect, have been forced to live as wild animals. As such, their care is society's responsibility."
From the CFHS (Canadian Federation of Humane Societies)
Proven Methods That Have Worked In Many Cities:
TNR (Trap Neuter & Release)
-
1. Trap
-
Neuter
-
Return, commonly referred to as "TNR," is a proven
humane and effective method at
managing
the community street
cat population growth. Using this technique,
community street
cats
in a colony are trapped, neutered, ear tipped and returned to their territory where caretakers
provide them with regular food and shelter.
-
2.
Community street
cats are un
owned or stray cats living outside. More and more,
community street
cats are acknowledged as having a place in urban and rural communities and TNR recognizes this
balance. TNR seeks to manage population growth with enlightened techniques that allow cats to live
out their lives and fulfill their natures.
-
3.
TNR has many advantages. TNR stabilizes the size of the colony by eliminating new litters. The
nuisance behavior often associated with
community street
cats is dramatically
reduced;
including
the yowling and fighting that come with mating activity and the odor of unneutered males spraying
to mark their territory. The stable colony also guards its territory, preventing unneutered cats from
moving in and beginning the cycle of overpopulation and problem behavior. The cats continue to
provide natural rodent control
, particularly in urban areas.
-
4.
When practiced on a large scale, TNR lessens the number of kittens and cats flowing into local
shelters increasing the demand for “forever homes
”. Not all
community street cats are suitable for
adoption.
-
5. TNR is not only the best alternative to managing community street
cat populations
-
it works. Doing
nothing has resulted in the current overpopulation crisis. Trying to "rescue" the cats and find
them
all homes is not realistic given the high number of
community street
cats and the futility of trying to
socialize them for adoption.
-
6. TNR is a movement that will continue to grow as more and more caring people see its potential and,
in time, it will
become the predominant method of
community street
cat management (Taken From The Hamilton Burlington SPCA Website)
Links to Helpful TNR Groups and Local Hamilton Rescues
(there are many more)
What An Outdoor Animal Shelter Looks Like
|
How To Make An Outdoor Shelter "Click in Image to View You Tube Video" |
Where To Purchase Cat Outdoor Shelters Locally
This is a Facebook group that has been formed to purchase and access these shelters.
It's also a great way to meet some like minded people :)
Where To Purchase Straw For Shelters Locally
Address: 10 Dartnall Rd, Hamilton, ON L8W 3N1
Phone: (905) 383-3353
Natural And Affordable Ways To Assist The Community Cats
Helping Local Injured or Abandoned Wildlife
I Wanted to share a link to a website that assists the wild animals in Ontario!!!
Please educate people!!!
This is the link here http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/
All my LOVE,