Alabama Cats - TNR & Sanctuary
Donation protected
It is time to improve the lives of cats in metro Birmingham by:
(1) Reducing the sheer numbers of feral cats through Trap Neuter and Release programs; and
Black Bart - once a feral now an indoor love bug
(2) Developing a cage-free home/sanctuary for elderly, disabled cats or cats whose owners have died or have terminal illnesses.
I ask you to join me in making it happen by making a gift to a "seed" fund for the project.
Almost daily I get an email or phone call from an animal rescuer or a friend begging for help. Sometimes it is on behalf of an elderly or critically ill person who can no longer care for their cat(s) and has no one to care for the cat (s). Other times, it is begging for a place for an unadoptable adult, injured or permanently disabled cat.
Sadly, there is usually no place for that elderly, disabled or unadoptable cat to be taken or often the shelter which does take it cannot get it adopted and it is condemned to either a caged existence or euthanized.
This dream began taking shape in my head and heart as I became more and more involved with animal rescue and saw this need. My vision is to one day have a retirement home/sanctuary located on a large tract of land within Jefferson County, especially designed and built for cage free living for unadoptable, elderly, or disabled cats.
Until that dream can become a reality, I want to build a team of cat trappers who can help me reduce the huge population of feral cats in our community by TNR methods and raise funds to get them fixed and assist in feeding colonies of feral cats.
Why have I decided to take this on?
Because I am a cat lover and rescuer and have been all my life.
I recently retired from a fulfilling full time 30+ year professional career as founder/Executive Director of two conservation organizations in Alabama. I was fortunate to be able to protect some great wild places that are home to incredible Alabama wildlife. I now work part-time as a pet sitter so I can devote the rest of my time to cat rescue and development of this sanctuary.
While my professional career focused on saving nature and native wildlife, I have rescued countless cats and dogs since I was a child. As a 9 year old, I decided I wanted to "raise cats" when I grew up.
I am a trained Trap/Neuter/Release volunteer and work with numerous animal rescuers in Alabama. I spend a good bit of my time trapping cats at abandoned properties or for those who cannot trap them and transport them back and forth to the local spay clinic. Part of the dream is that this sanctuary will encourage spaying/neutering of cats and help people get that done.
It will educate cat owners on how they can keep their cats indoors to protect them and wildlife (especially birds) and yet give the cats access to sun and fresh air. It will secure good homes for cats that are adoptable. It will work with Alabama animal rescue groups to build a stronger network that is mutually supportive for the good of all those doing important rescue work. Hopefully, this one can serve as a proto-type for similar sanctuaries in other parts of Alabama.
These "seed" funds will be used to develop the plan for this project and its leadership under the guidance of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, a renown leader in the no-kill animal shelter movement.
It will pay for legal services to incorporate, create by-laws and apply for the important 50l (c)(3) nonprofit status from IRS. It will pay for development of a business plan to make sure it is financially and operational stable, it will pay for tuition, travel and lodging for a sanctuary training session for at least two attendees at Best Friends sanctuary in Utah. It will cover the costs of basic office/computer equipment and supplies.
The success of this seed fund campaign will show community support for the project to potential individual, corporate and foundation donors who will be asked for funds to acquire land, build the facility and staff it. I hope you will lend your support to help me make this dream a reality for those Alabama cats in need of a safe haven.
For you dog lovers (and I am one): I am focusing on a cat sanctuary now because a greater number of cats are euthanized each year for lack of homes than dogs in Alabama. However, my hope is that this project, once successful, can be replicated in other communities in Alabama and can be expanded to accommodate dogs.
(1) Reducing the sheer numbers of feral cats through Trap Neuter and Release programs; and
Black Bart - once a feral now an indoor love bug(2) Developing a cage-free home/sanctuary for elderly, disabled cats or cats whose owners have died or have terminal illnesses.
I ask you to join me in making it happen by making a gift to a "seed" fund for the project.
Almost daily I get an email or phone call from an animal rescuer or a friend begging for help. Sometimes it is on behalf of an elderly or critically ill person who can no longer care for their cat(s) and has no one to care for the cat (s). Other times, it is begging for a place for an unadoptable adult, injured or permanently disabled cat.
Sadly, there is usually no place for that elderly, disabled or unadoptable cat to be taken or often the shelter which does take it cannot get it adopted and it is condemned to either a caged existence or euthanized.
This dream began taking shape in my head and heart as I became more and more involved with animal rescue and saw this need. My vision is to one day have a retirement home/sanctuary located on a large tract of land within Jefferson County, especially designed and built for cage free living for unadoptable, elderly, or disabled cats.
Until that dream can become a reality, I want to build a team of cat trappers who can help me reduce the huge population of feral cats in our community by TNR methods and raise funds to get them fixed and assist in feeding colonies of feral cats.
Why have I decided to take this on?
Because I am a cat lover and rescuer and have been all my life.
I recently retired from a fulfilling full time 30+ year professional career as founder/Executive Director of two conservation organizations in Alabama. I was fortunate to be able to protect some great wild places that are home to incredible Alabama wildlife. I now work part-time as a pet sitter so I can devote the rest of my time to cat rescue and development of this sanctuary.
While my professional career focused on saving nature and native wildlife, I have rescued countless cats and dogs since I was a child. As a 9 year old, I decided I wanted to "raise cats" when I grew up.
I am a trained Trap/Neuter/Release volunteer and work with numerous animal rescuers in Alabama. I spend a good bit of my time trapping cats at abandoned properties or for those who cannot trap them and transport them back and forth to the local spay clinic. Part of the dream is that this sanctuary will encourage spaying/neutering of cats and help people get that done.
It will educate cat owners on how they can keep their cats indoors to protect them and wildlife (especially birds) and yet give the cats access to sun and fresh air. It will secure good homes for cats that are adoptable. It will work with Alabama animal rescue groups to build a stronger network that is mutually supportive for the good of all those doing important rescue work. Hopefully, this one can serve as a proto-type for similar sanctuaries in other parts of Alabama.
These "seed" funds will be used to develop the plan for this project and its leadership under the guidance of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, a renown leader in the no-kill animal shelter movement.
It will pay for legal services to incorporate, create by-laws and apply for the important 50l (c)(3) nonprofit status from IRS. It will pay for development of a business plan to make sure it is financially and operational stable, it will pay for tuition, travel and lodging for a sanctuary training session for at least two attendees at Best Friends sanctuary in Utah. It will cover the costs of basic office/computer equipment and supplies.
The success of this seed fund campaign will show community support for the project to potential individual, corporate and foundation donors who will be asked for funds to acquire land, build the facility and staff it. I hope you will lend your support to help me make this dream a reality for those Alabama cats in need of a safe haven.
For you dog lovers (and I am one): I am focusing on a cat sanctuary now because a greater number of cats are euthanized each year for lack of homes than dogs in Alabama. However, my hope is that this project, once successful, can be replicated in other communities in Alabama and can be expanded to accommodate dogs.
Organizer
Kathy Stiles Freeland
Organizer
Birmingham, AL
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