Swimming in Strays

Ironically now our property is flooding with strays. I suspect I know who is dumping them but have little proof, other than recognizing some of the cats when I went to pick up the others from her a few weeks ago. But, it isn’t worth hassling her with, I just need to start taking care of them. I know my neighbors are upset, but there is little I can do with someone dumping cats on our land.

This morning, I counted 8 new strays near the woodpile. They all scattered when I came out of the house, but you could tell they have been together in the past because they all ran off in the same direction.

If anyone out there has ideas about fundraisers, I would welcome any ideas. There is a company that has been emailing me lately, GoGO Photo, they specialize in running photo contests online for non-profits. I’ve researched them to the best of my ability and they seem legit. The only thing is, there has to be an incentive (prizes) for people to enter the photo contest- at least three good prizes in order to accomplish the end goal and raise the monies. I would like to offer something unusual, like a brand new cat carrier, stuffed with cat goodies, a small collection of cat and cat care books and such.

I’ve also decided (because of the untruths floating around about us) to at the end of each month, present on my blog the stats of the sanctuary. How much money was raised, what it was spent for, how many cats were adopted that month, how many we turned down, how many were dumped, who went to the vet etc… etc… I have let it be known to the person who told me about the hoarding rumor to check in to my blog at the end of the month to see if that stops this reputation ruining campaign.

So a lot of worry and concern on my plate. These new cats, how to capture them, where to put them once they are captured. How to keep them from harm until I can get to them and a push to adopt out all the adoptable ones here to make more room.
Thank you for anything you can offer. I am still turning down kittens daily and will continue to do so.

11 thoughts on “Swimming in Strays

  1. Even as strays these cats are better off with you than they were. I hope you can cope with yesterday’s escapees and the new ones. Meanwhile, I’ve decided I don’t need the things I wanted to get with my income tax refund compared to what you need! I wish I had more room in my monthly pension, but when I get some extra somehow I’ll send more. So always remember there are people out here who only know you from your blog, but who have great faith in you!!

  2. I’m sorry about your worries. It can make for a very, very long day.
    Another cat blogger in Or is using http://www.youcaring.com. She has a tab on her blog. With a good pic and a sad sack story, it might be help.
    I love the idea of a monthly stat report. Cash & Cats in/out. Consider keeping it simple. Most folks do Not like too much detail, eyes glaze over. Pics are always good. Especially the before/after pics. Why not sell your success? You do a good work and you should crow about it more!
    How about an Amazon wish list. Some don’t like to give cash, but would rather buy something direct for the cats.
    Oh, don’t listen to the naysayers! Ok, I tell myself this one everyday! It’s hard to let it go, isn’t it?

  3. Hang in there, Mary Anne. It is kind of disturbing how many people would rather shoot someone else down than try to help others.

    Some sort of “Found a Furrever Home” page with maybe a photo might be nice, if it isn’t too much trouble. We assume you already have to keep records of donations and how they were spent, but you might want to think a bit before posting too much detail about that process.

    Some places are using IndieGoGo ( https://www.indiegogo.com/ ) to raise money. We don’t know much about them, but FWIW they do have an Animal section.

  4. Thanks for giving me more to think about. You always seem to have that effect on me. 🙂 I just hate that people locally are now whispering that I am a hoarder. My donations are a matter of public record as are any non-profits- it’s the law. I was just going off a bit in my above triade. I almost just now caught Skeets but he slipped away at the last minute, guess he doesn’t quite trust me yet. Quinn is no where to be seen which makes me sad. Maybe he will come back. There’s a beautiful orange boy outside right now. I think he is a polydactyl but he ran away before I could check.

  5. I wish I could help. It always seems that those who try to help the most get the most given to them to help with. It’s unfair. I’ll try to think of some ways to assist. Right now, you are doing all you can. You’re doing excellent work.

  6. I understand and wish I could figure out how to apply for grant money. Everytime I do, it get turned down because there is a certain way you need to write up these grant proposals and in that, I am in the dark. Just pray I can capture these latest dumped cats before they come into harm.

  7. Grant money is mystery to everyone except for a few folks who write grants for a living. I volunteer with our little water system. There are always Grants out there for infrastructure rebuilds. But when we read the grant details, we get swamped by requirements & timelines. Really, it’s a full time job going after that “free” money. Don’t be frustrated by it. Or maybe be frustrated by it but know the rest of us can’t figure it out either.

  8. end of this month and things are a little slow for me at work, I sent a little to help out and wish I could help more. Good things happen to good people, just keep the faith.

  9. Perhaps you have gone this route, but I would reach out to some of the successful small cat rescues like covered in cat hair or kitten associates run by Robin. See how they raise money for their rescue. If you have more people following the website, then I think fund raising would be easier to get the word out. The pictures of the cats and details help connect people with your babies.

  10. One last thought. Do you have an ‘account’ (for lack of anything else to call it) on Petfinder? ( http://www.petfinder.com/ )

    You may not get a whole lot of adoptions through there, but at least got some exposure for your group, and another avenue to get your kitties out there.

  11. In the beginning of it’s existence, petfinders was great for helping stray cats find homes. Now that it has been sold twice it doesn’t seem very effective. I am on petfinders (when I can find the time to add the new ones I will) also rescuepet and seventeen other rescue websites. Also just learned that overstock.com is now running a pet adoption page.

    My best outlet to find good homes has always been CL and word of mouth. Right now, eight cats/kittens are up for adoption this weekend. I also use local radio stations to advertise.

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