ACTION ALERT: Alley Cat Rescue Creates Emergency Relief Fund
Maggie Funkhouser
situations at ACR, we have decided to establish an Emergency Relief
Fund. These funds will be designated to assist cats in need due to
emergency or “special-needs” situations.
From time to time, ACR will rescue a cat who turns out to have
“special needs” or require special treatment (ex. Pumpkin), and in
these cases, it is essential to have an Emergency Relief Fund to see
that these cats are able to receive the treatment they need and
deserve.
ACR also gets requests from other cat groups or from individuals
asking for help with special-needs cats. Yesterday, we were contacted
by a rescuer with a story of four cats who have inadvertently been
caught up in a 6-month rabies quarantine that will cost at least
$6,000 to save their lives. And right before this incident, a person
contacted us who could not afford for her cat to be treated for a
urinary infection, so the poor cat ended up developing bladder stones
and needed surgery.
And with the earthquake in Haiti, ACR has been asked by an animal
rescue group in the Dominican Republic (Animal Balance working with
Dominican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to help
them find homes for animals currently in their shelter, so that they
can rescue animals from Haiti. They also asked ACR for help with TNR
and sterilizing cats, since most of their funds go to help dogs.
Subsequently, all of these worthy causes require money, and a
substantial amount of it. Again, the intentions of this fund are to
assist cats that are in special, emergency situations, where sadly, it
is a question of life or death for an animal due to the cost of
treatment. ACR believes that no animal should die when life-saving
treatments exist because an individual cannot afford treatment or the
support and funding are not accessible for such occasions; that is why
ACR has created an Emergency Relief Fund.
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As mentioned, one of ACR’s emergency cases right now is trying to save
four cats from the Prince George’s County Animal Shelter here in
Maryland. We were contacted by a rescuer who was contacted by the
shelter’s adoption counselor, with the information that a friendly cat
came into the shelter last week, and he had some scratches on him.
Sometime after intake, the cat was eventually placed with other
friendly cats in the "free-roaming" cat condo. Then, at some point
after that, someone decided that (due to the scratches) the cat might
have rabies, so he should be put down or quarantined for 6 months. The
Health Department was also called. To make matters more difficult,
because the three other cats were "exposed" to the cat in question,
those three cats also have to be quarantined for 6 months.
Why someone did not take this into consideration prior to placing the
cat with other cats, no one knows? Was the cat given a proper health
exam upon entrance to the shelter and prior to being placed with other
cats, we do not know? And rescue groups take in cats with injures all
the time, and there has not been, to our knowledge, an instance where
someone adopted a cat from a shelter that has turned out to have
rabies. But now that the Health Department as been contacted, there is
no reversing the situation.
However, the Health Department and the PG County Shelter have agreed
that if someone can find quarantine space for the cats ASAP, the cats
can be quarantined instead of being killed.
Langley Animal Hospital in Hyattsville, MD has generously offered to
quarantine all four cats for six months at their vet hospital, but it
will cost $6,000 to do so. ACR is willing to donate $1,000 to help
these kitties, and two individual rescuers have offered to donate $100
each; however, that still leaves a large amount of money to raise for
these unfortunate kitties, who have become victims of human error (and
paranoia). If you wish to help these kitties, please send a tax-
deductible donation to ACR’s Emergency Relief Fund.
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In wanting to get involved in the animal relief efforts of Haiti, ACR
contacted an animal rescue group located in the Dominican Republic to
see how we can help. (No animal rescue organizations exist in Haiti.)
A California based nonprofit, Animal Balance, is an organization of
veterinarians, veterinary technicians, assistants and volunteers,
coming together to create MASH-style sterilization clinics on islands
around the world. They currently have about 400 people in their
database, with whom they work. One of the groups Animal Balance works
with is the Sociedad Dominicana para la Prevención de Crueldad a los
Animales (SODOPRECA) or the Dominican Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals.
ACR has been in contact with SODOPRECA’s vice-president and he has
explained to us that, like in most Latin-American countries, their
group does more for dogs than cats. This is true for a few reasons: 1)
most of the countries are poor and animal rescues are far and few
between 2) these countries prioritize funds to help livestock animals
(or zoos for the tourist industry) rather than cats or dogs and 3)
individuals are more likely to help the stray dog population (out of
sympathy and/or safety and health reasons) than stray cat
populations.
Because they rescue dogs, it was suggested that ACR find groups in the
US that would take dogs currently in their shelters, so that they may
rescue more animals from Haiti. Unfortunately, cats are on the bottom
of the priority list and receive little or no assistance. Of course
ACR wants dogs in need to be helped, but our mission is to assist cats
and the other large animal organizations are addressing this matter.
Therefore, ACR hopes to assemble a team to go to the Dominican
Republic to help with cat rescue operations in their country (and with
Haiti’s) and to TNR feral cats.
There was a need in Mexico, so ACR stepped in and inspired a monthly
spay/neuter clinic. Now, there is a need in the Dominican Republic and
Haiti, so ACR greatly wants to step in and help both the cats and its
people. Like our project in Mexico, we need your help! The cats need
your help! We will need money for all kinds of supplies (surgery
supplies, medications, vaccines, food) and for travel arrangements, so
if you wish to help the cats of Haiti and the Dominican Republic,
please make a tax-deductible donation to ACR’s Emergency Relief Fund.
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To make an online contribution, please visit our website www.saveacat.org.
To mail a contribution, please send a check, money order, or credit
card information to:
Alley Cat Rescue
PO Box 585
Mt. Rainier, MD 20712
If you wish to help a particular emergency situation, please indicate
which your contribution is intended to help.
As always, thank you for your continued support and for caring for our
feline friends! Every little bit makes a difference!
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