Posted on 03/13/2014 11:37:04 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows
Animal shelters often place domesticated cats and dogs in homes. Now, Santa Fe Animal Shelter based in New Mexico, is working to give feral felines a second chance at life as well. According to the Santa Fe CBS affiliate KRQE, 30 semi-feral and feral cats were seized from the home of an elderly woman when she contacted Animal Control for help. Some of the younger felines were able to be socialized and adopted out. Ten feral cats described as being unfriendly and unsocialized were slated for adoption as well.
These animals are part of the shelter's barn cat program. Some people are in need of animals to combat their pest control problems and felines present a nontoxic solution.
"The barn cat program offers feral, semi-feral and some non-feral cats a second chance," Savannah Sweatt, organizer of the barn cat program at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, told the source. "It's better than just letting a cat loose in the wild."
The barn cats will receive shelter, veterinary care, food and water, yet will get more freedom to roam around then their indoor cat counterparts.
Barn Cats, Inc. out of Lewisville, Texas, runs a similar program, which strives to help feral cats while providing a safe pest control solution.
Glad you liked.
That’s quite a prize. He must have appreciated your home.
Somebody’s trying to poison that poor cat!
Sweet story!
There is another one out there.
Yes—I’m sure there is, and in need of a home, too!
It has been so long since I adopted a cat. They usually appear spontaneously and move in.
A few years ago, we moved into a neighborhood with a very prolific feral cat. Eventually, we trapped her—she was too smart to be trapped, but her kitten helped—and had her fixed. Her last litter of kittens was about 4 months old. We took them in and tamed them. The two girls remain skittish, while the boy is the most friendly little guy. These “kittens” are now 9 years old.
I’m sure we had a thread about *the cat that hates Obama.* :)
http://izismile.com/2009/08/19/cat_that_hates_obama_4_pics.html
We adopted a barn cat to actually live and kill mice in our barn. Sweetest cat we ever had but not a mouse in sight.
Its nice when someone is actually good at their job.
Growing up in the country we had a number of barn cats pass through our lives. Some were friendlier than others, of course. My dad didn’t regard them as pets; they were there to keep the vermin population in check.
I remember my grandmother being a little upset one day when one of our cats dropped a dead rabbit at her feet.
Yup. All three of my cats are quite affectionate, but I’m pretty sure if they were bigger they would try to kill me.
She still runs off and hides under the bed when company comes over, but she's very loving with us. And she's adjusted well to being a house cat, as this picture shows.
cute! is she still a queen or did you get her spayed? :)
I didn’t think about Petfinders for semi-ferals. I’ll look into it. Thanks for the info, and the good wishes.
She was pregnant at the time she finally moved in with us. I had her spayed as soon as her litter was weaned. Needless to say it is NOT fun living with an intact queen when she goes into heat!
Yeah, me, too! I was shocked that I was able to take an outside fighter into a great big loving protective inside cat. Sadly, I only had him for a year, but it was the best year one could have had, for both of us.
The winter is so long around here, while the kitties are outside, the mice chase our cats down in order to be carried inside for the warmth. Then while playing with their “food”, the mouse scrambles off.
Lets adopt a feral cat. They’re always fun.
Butters
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