Craig Street Cats

Our parliament has unanimously adopted a motion to support the development of a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare.  This makes Canada the first North American nation to show support for this concept.  This is the first time in a VERY long time that I can honestly say that I’m proud of something Parliament has done.

This documentary will be shown on Global, at 7pm on October 9th.  I intend to watch, I hope you will too.

The film is about feral cat colonies, and their caregivers, in Toronto, but I’m pretty sure the theme applies across the country.

Every day I get at least one phone call asking me to do things that we just don’t do, like take away a colony of feral cats, or make a bunch of cats disappear, or come get a bunch of kittens, or take away someone’s pets, or take in a pet cat because its owner is tired of it / allergic to it / moving to a new apartment / has a new boyfriend or girlfriend that doesn’t like cats / has a new boyfriend or girlfriend that is allergic to cats . . .

I’m taking a stand.  Craig Street Cats does not do any of those things.  We cannot come out and magically solve your “cat problem”.

So, what DO we do?  Three things:

1. feral cat colony management.  We are directly working to manage the feral cat colonies in Wolseley using trap, neuter, return.  We help colony caregivers in other areas by providing access to information, food, supplies, and medical resources.  We will help concerned people do what needs to be done to manage the feral cat population in their own neighbourhoods.
2. kitten rescue.  We rescue, tame, foster and prepare for adoption as many kittens as we can.  First priority is given to kittens born in the Wolseley area.  When we have room, we accept kittens from the managed colonies that we help.  Kittens from other areas and situations are assessed on a case by case basis.
3. community outreach and education.  We teach people how to set up their own colony management programs.  We work with them to get things going and provide access to the tools they need to succeed.  We educate interested groups and individuals about feral cat issues and management techniques.

Those three things are our registered purpose.  We don’t have the money, manpower or other resources necessary to do any of the other things people are constantly asking us to do.

 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.

PLEASE NOTE:  THE PHONE NUMBER FOR S.N.I.P. IS 995- 4405 

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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.