Craig Street Cats

Another 6 kittens and their mother have come into care.  That makes our July kitten tally 30 (plus 3 that were too sick to save, and 5 stillborns). The mother cat raises our July adult rescue tally to 6.  We currently have 18 adoptable adults in care, 16 of which are ready for their forever homes today.

Our financial situation is still dire.  Although some generous individuals have contributed over the past few days, we are still over $2500 short of what we need to cover our expenses.  Your help is desperately needed if we are to continue our work.  Online donations can be made by clicking here.  Cheques can be mailed to 487 Craig St., Wpg, MB, R3G 3C2.

We seem to have a bumper crop of kittens this year.  June brought us 24 kittens.  July, so far, has brought another 24.  Unfortunately, many of this month’s babies have been sick, so we have incurred significant vet bills, on top of the already astronomical cost of caring for young kittens.  On top of all that, a respiratory infection has swept through the adult cats, raising our vet bills even higher.  All of this has left us scrambling to feed the cats and pay the bills.  We are currently about $3000 short of what we need to pay all the bills for this month.

In addition to our financial shortfall, we are out of many essential supplies.  We have only 2 days supply of canned cat food left, and are completely out of kitten formula.  Many of the kittens currently in care must have formula in order to survive.

With so many sick cats, we have gone through much of our medical supplies.  We are out of the saline solution and needles used to inject the subcutaneous fluids that keep cats and kittens alive when they cannot eat or drink properly.

To top things off, the car we use to transport cats, pick up supplies, get to fundraising events, and absolutely must have, has died.  Now, it is a 20 year old car, and does not owe us anything, but we cannot afford to replace it.  The estimated cost to get it running again is over $1000.

I have enumerated these expenses because we need your help now.  Our most urgent need is cash donations, with kitten formula and canned cat food falling close behind.  Your donation will save lives.  Please consider making a donation either through our PayPal donation link or by sending a cheque to 487 Craig Street, Wpg, MB, R3G 3C2.

Thank you.

 S.N.I.P is a new program intended to help inner city residents access spay and neuter services for their cats.  The following article describes the program and its goals.

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S.N.I.P. (Spay and Neuter Inner-city Pet) Program was founded in April of this year. From 2003 to December 2008, a member of S.N.I.P. who lives in William Whyte, transported over 1500 inner-city and North End cats to the Winnipeg Humane Society or Sherbrook Animal Hospital to be spayed and neutered. She has been working with the Winnipeg Humane Society since 2004 to find solutions to reduce the cat overpopulation problem in Winnipeg’s low-income neighbourhoods.

In January of 2009, the Winnipeg Humane Society began it’s own booking and transporting of cats to be spayed and neutered. A group of residents saw the need to continue promoting the spaying and neutering of cats at a grass roots level and founded S.N.I.P. with the following mandate in Winnipeg’s North End:

• Promotion of the Winnipeg Humane Society’s Cat Alive! Spay and neuter program through flyers ,posters, and other methods of marketing

• Promotion of health care tips and information to low-income North End and Inner-city Residents

• Advocating for low-income pet owners in pet policy decisions such as cat licensing

S.N.I.P. is run solely by volunteers and is looking for the following:

• Help in printing and distributing flyers

• Donations to cover the cost of flyers and posters

• Help on our phone line, for the booking of spay and neuter appointments and follow-up

• Help with advocating for low-income pet owners in regard to the upcoming City of Winnipeg Cat Licensing task force.

• People who are willing to commit to a board position for two years

For further information call 995-4405

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The next S.N.I.P. meeting will take place July 21st, at 7 pm.  Please call the number above for more information.

Julius, Mortimer and Bunny

For those of you who cannot see me, I am jumping for joy. 

Julius, Mortimer and Bunny have all been adopted this week.  Julius went to a wonderful family with 2 kids and 2 cats, while Mortimer and Bunny will be the only cats in a home with 1 small child.  I’m sure all 3 cats will be happy and well cared for in their new homes.