Stanislaus Animal Services Agency Recipient of $5000 to Establish Life-saving Programs, Including TNR
For Immediate Release: February 3, 2014
Contact: JOHNNIE SIMPSON, [email protected] or (240) 482-3895
WHO: Alley Cat Allies Staff:
Anne Marie Vastano, Community Outreach Manager
Aileen Walden, Director of Community Programs and Support
WHAT: Trap-Neuter-Return Workshopincluding humane box trap demonstration and presentation with visuals of deterrents residents can use to keep cats out of gardens
WHEN: Tuesday, February 4, 2014
- First workshop: Noon – 1:30 p.m., Reception 1:30 – 2 p.m.
- Second workshop: 6 – 7:30 p.m., Reception 7:30 – 8 p.m.
WHERE: Stanislaus County Harvest Hall 3800 Cornucopia Way, Modesto, CA 95358 (across the parking lot from the shelter)
NIGHT-OF CONTACT: 209-342-1742
Background for Media
Alley Cat Allies, the nation’s largest advocacy organization for cats, will hold a workshop on Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) at the Stanislaus County Harvest Hall on Tuesday, February 4. As part of Alley Cat Allies’ Future Five: Partners to Save Cats’ Lives program, Stanislaus Animal Services Agency recently received $5000 along with one year of expert guidance to help expand their humane programs for cats.
During the one year engagement, Stanislaus Animal Services Agency’s progress and experiences will be documented and eventually developed as a case study, published by Alley Cat Allies, that can instruct other shelters in similar situations how to transition to life-saving programs for cats. Currently, on a national level, more than 70 percent of all cats (and all feral cats) who enter shelters are killed there. Alley Cat Allies is dedicated to helping shelters evolve, and embrace life-saving programs, including Trap-Neuter-Return, building a foster network, and providing access to low-cost spay/neuter services.
Thousands of communities across the country are carrying out TNR programs. In the last decade, cities and counties that officially endorse TNR has increased ten-fold to 350, including Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. TNR stabilizes and eventually reduces outdoor cat populations over time, while saving money that could be dedicated to community education and adoption programs.
At the workshop, Alley Cat Allies’ staff will review the basics of TNR, in which outdoor cats are humanely trapped and brought to veterinary clinics for spay/neuter and vaccination against rabies. Unsocialized, unadoptable feral cats are eartipped and then returned to their outdoor homes, while friendly stray cats and kittens are placed in foster homes until adoption. Reproduction stops immediately, the colony size stabilizes and then decreases in population over time.
Alley Cat Allies’ staff will be available during the workshop as well as all day Tuesday for interviews with local media.
To arrange an interview, please contact Johnnie Simpson at [email protected] or (240)-482-3895.
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About Alley Cat Allies
Alley Cat Allies is the only national advocacy organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats. Founded in 1990, today Alley Cat Allies has nearly half a million supporters and helps tens of thousands of individuals, communities, and organizations save and improve the lives of millions of cats and kittens nationwide. Its website is www.alleycat.org.