I read this article last night, and wondered if I should say anything about it. Going through our financial records this morning, I decided that I definitely should.

It seems that charities and non-profits are worried because the donations that usually come in before Christmas are not coming in this year. Winnipeg Harvest has received only one third of what it normally receives in December.

We are in the very same boat. Last Christmas saw a 60% drop in Christmas giving. So far this year we are experiencing a further 50% drop (to date the cats have received only 20% of what is normally donated in December). That is income from all sources -- fundraising, pledges and Christmas gifts. To be blunt, what has come in so far this month won't even cover this month's operating expenses.

This drop in giving comes when we are experiencing the highest demand for service that we have ever had. Today we have over 100 more cats in care than we had a year ago. Every day brings desperate calls to help even more cats. Without money, we have to say no.

If you can help at all, please do. No amount is too small. If you can network with friends and family to help the cats, please consider joining our Christmas for the Critters campaign. If you want to make a personal contribution, a donation to the campaign will be greatly appreciated! Without your help, this will be a very bleak Christmas for the cats. https://sna.etapestry.com/fund…/CraigStreetCats/christmas17/

If you prefer to mail in your gift:
Craig Street Cats
16-1421 St. James St.
Wpg, MB, R3H 0Y9

Email Money Transfer: lscott@craigstcats.ca

​Thank you, and Meowy Christmas!

This has been a particularly harrowing week at Craig Street Cats.  On top of ongoing financial difficulties we have been compelled to respond to several cases of abuse and neglect.

We are appalled at the level of cruelty, abuse and neglect being perpetrated against cats and their caregivers, and the fact that our society is so jaded that media no longer responds to reports of such things.  This week alone we have responded to 4 separate incidents involving cruelty to cats and one involving assault of an elderly cat caregiver:

​1.  a 4 month old kitten found missing a rear foot and dumped in a rural area.  The foot has been cleanly cut off, indicating that this was not an accidental injury.

2.  an elderly woman who has been caring for a managed colony of cats, with permission from the property owner, has been harassed and stalked by a neighbour who objects to the cats being on his neighbour's property.  This person has threatened the caregiver with a crow bar, and hurled insults at her in the past.  Yesterday he  threatened to poison the cats, and threw shovels full of dirt clods at the caregiver, then followed her home and uttered more threats against her.  A police report has been made, but police declined to intervene.

3.  six 4 week old kittens put into a cardboard box and tossed into a dumpster, saved by a passerby who contacted a dog rescue, which then contacted us.

4.  five cats and one dog abandoned by their owner, who simply left them behind when moving.  We have advised the property owner that Animal Services and the Winnipeg Humane Society must deal with the situation as abandonment is a crime.

5.  late this afternoon we received a call about 2 kittens tossed from a moving car at Broadway and Colony.  Sadly, we were not able to accept those kittens, as we are absolutely out of space and money.  We advised the caller to contact WHS to report the incident and ask for help placing the kittens.
​
That's just this week.

Over the past 2 months we have seen more cases of deliberate cruelty than in the previous 6 months combined.  Media releases about them garner less and less attention.  This is troubling because it means that cruelty to animals is no longer news worthy. 

​More troubling is the fact that the agencies charged with responding to these events (police, animal services, Provincial Vet, Winnipeg Humane Society) either won't or are so overwhelmed with even more horrible cases that they can't.

Most troubling is the fact that these cases garner very little tangible response from the general public.  Caring for abused, injured and abandoned animals is incredibly expensive, yet pleas for assistance draw virtually no response beyond 'sharing is caring' and anger directed at the perpetrators of whatever cruelty has most recently transpired.  A few incredibly generous people give every single time, but cruelty has become so common that fewer people respond to each subsequent event. 

What a sad commentary on the state of our society.

Summer is finally here!  Yay!  Warm weather, kids out of school, camping trips, days at the beach, and vacations are all on the horizon.  Everyone is excitedly planning what they will do with their holiday time.  Kids are taking swimming lessons, running through the sprinkler, enjoying ice cream.  What a wonderful time of year.

For those who work in animal welfare, however, summer is a time of desperation.  It means incredible demands on resources, and no way to cover expenses, because donors are away.  For Craig Street Cats, summer means making heart breaking decisions every day.  Decisions that often mean death for the cats we must turn away because we do not have the money to care for them.  We have to say no 40 or 50 times every day.

Summer is kitten season.  Over the next few weeks we will be asked to take in over 1000 kittens.  We will have to say no to almost all of them, because we do not have the money to care for them.  Most of those kittens will be left on the street, where 75% of them will die before they are 3 months old.

Summer means incredible veterinary expenses, because all those kittens we are able to help must be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and dewormed.  Many of them are sick, requiring medication and multiple visits to the vet.  Some need life saving surgery.  Over half of our annual veterinary expenses are incurred during July and August.

Summer means deciding which bills to pay, and which to leave until next month (or the month after that), because there is no money to pay all of them and still feed the cats.
​
Summer means writing articles like this one, because every year people forget about the cats while they are enjoying their holidays.  Today is July 17th.  Craig Street Cats' expenses, so far this month, are over $25,000.  Total income this month?  Just over $10,000.

Please help.  https://craigstreetcats.ca/donate.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 
Contact:
 
Lynne Scott
Craig Street Cats
​204 421-1919
lscott@craigstcats.ca
 
Mother Cat and 4 Kittens Abandoned in Carrier at Side of Road
 
Winnipeg, MB, June 28, 2017: A mother cat and her 4 kittens are safe at Craig Street Cats, after being abandoned in a small carrier at the side of St. Mary's Rd.
 
"We are appalled at the immense cruelty people can inflict on helpless animals," says Lynne Scott, Executive Director at Craig Street Cats. "The mother and 4 kittens were crammed into a small carrier, and left for goodness knows how long before a good samaritan stopped to investigate.  The carrier is absolutely full of urine and feces.  All 5 cats are very thin, and attacked the food and water bowls as soon as they were offered."  Scott says the cats will see CSC's vet, and be held for several weeks before being offered for adoption.
 
About Craig Street Cats:  Craig Street Cats is a non-profit organization working to humanely reduce Winnipeg's free roaming cat population, rescue kittens and educate the public about community cats.  CSC is the largest cat specific animal welfare organization in Winnipeg, caring for over 750 cats in its managed colonies, foster homes and adoption centre.
 
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Nona arrived at CSC in the spring of 2013.  She was brought in by a very distressed person who had found her in an abandoned live trap.  Although he couldn't be certain, he said he had seen an official looking group setting traps in the neighbourhood a couple of weeks earlier.  He thought that the trap he found Nona in was one of theirs.
 
It was easy to believe that Nona had been in that trap for 2 weeks, without food or water.  She was absolutely emaciated.  Her eyes were sunken.  She was listless. Her fur was dull and matted.  Nona was waiting to die.
 
For the first few weeks, Nona would not eat on her own.  She ignored food put in front of her.  We had to feed her from a spoon held up to her mouth.  This had to be done several times each day, until she started to eat on her own.
 
Once she started to eat, the challenge was to get Nona to respond to people.  Her experience had left her emotionally shut down.  She didn't hiss or swat at anyone, but no one could touch her.  For months, Nona would stay in her bed except to eat and use her litter box.  She wouldn't come out of her cage, even if the door was left open.
 
Slowly, after many months, Nona started to allow a few people to touch her.  Gentle stroking, at first, then ear scratches, then belly rubs.  She still wouldn't come out of her cage, but would purr when a select few spent time with her.
 
Now, after almost 4 years in our care, Nona is in a foster home, learning to live as a pet.  Not because there wasn't a foster home available, rather, because she was not ready for one.  Sending her too soon would have stalled her progress, and meant a longer journey. 
 
At some point Nona will be ready for adoption.  When that day comes, we will find the right home for her.  Until then, she has the best we can give her.  The timeline is hers, not ours.
 
Over the past 10 years CSC has cared for hundreds of special cats like Nona.  Each has a story that might break your heart.  Some of those stories don't end happily, but all of our special cats get all the time they need to give them a chance at a happy ending.
 
Care like this is expensive -- not because the cats are sick, but because they are with us for as long as they need to be.  In Nona's case, the cost of 4 years of care is almost $5,000.  That's a lot of money to put out for one cat, but we think she's worth it.  The question is, do you?  You can help provide care for Nona and cats like her, by participating in our Whisker Walk -- sign up to walk and raise pledges, join a team, sponsor one of our walkers, or make a donation to the cause. However you choose to help, it will make a difference for Nona and many other cats.

Craig Street Cats cannot continue in its current state.  It has taken awhile to realize that this city simply has no support for a humane cat management program based on sound science, but that is the conclusion we have reached.  The few people who have supported the program cannot hope to cover the cost on their own.  Even though we have seen overwhelming success in every place where we have established comprehensive management of a cat population, we have not been able to convince this city (here I mean the people who live here, as well as their elected officials) that the effort is worth the cost.
 
What, exactly, is it that CSC does?  It is really very simple.  100,000+ cats live on the streets of Winnipeg.  Where people have identified that this is a problem, we help them manage it in the following manner:
 
1.  establish feeding stations to help determine how many cats are in the area, and maintain baseline health
2.  trap all cats and kittens using specially designed feral cat traps
3.  spay or neuter and vaccinate all trapped cats
4.  remove kittens and friendly adult cats for adoption
5.  return unsocialized adult cats to the place they were trapped
6.  provide simple winter shelters to protect the remaining cats from our harsh weather.
 
These 6 simple things make huge changes in every area where community cats live:
 
1.  nuisance behaviours stop almost immediately (fighting, yowling, spraying, smell)
2.  no more kittens are born to the colony
3.  all of the remaining cats become healthier
4.  numbers start to go down immediately (friendly adults and all kittens are put up for adoption)
5.  numbers continue to go down dramatically (70% in the first 5 years, 90% after 9 years)
 
Occasionally a new cat will migrate into a managed colony.  These are trapped and assessed for TNR or adoption.  The downward population trend remains unaltered.
 
This works.  It works dramatically.  It works in EVERY place where comprehensive management is established, and cost goes down every year.  The highest cost occurs in the first two years of management, where many cats are being trapped for sterilization and adoption.  After year two the only ongoing cost is food for a shrinking number of cats, occasional spay/neuter for a new cat, and occasional replacement of winter shelters.
 
In spite of our proven track record and over 30 years of good science supporting our efforts, we have been unable to convince Winnipeg that this is a worthwhile endeavor.  Every year has seen increased demand for help managing community cats, but there has been no corresponding increase in support.  Over the past year we have not been able to cover costs.  For the first time in our history we are entering a new year with unpaid bills and no money in the bank.
 
Demoralized does not begin to describe the way I feel, right now.  Having put almost 10 years of my life into a project in which I whole heartedly believe, it is heartbreaking to see it crumbling before me.  In the past I have been able to cover outstanding amounts by raiding my retirement savings and using the full extent of my personal credit.  I can no longer continue to do so.  Craig Street Cats future cannot hinge on my personal ability to pay its bills.
 
Just over a year ago I sent out a press release to let Winnipeg know that Craig Street Cats could not continue without immediate and ongoing support.  The result was that many people made immediate donations and pledged ongoing support.  This convinced our board of directors to continue operations.  Unfortunately, over 1/3 of those pledges were not honoured.  Of the pledges made with credit cards, each month sees 1/4 to 1/3 of the charges fail to go through.
 
Before anyone hollers, 'geez here she goes crying for money again,' let me state that this is absolutely about money.  This is also about a whole lot more:
​
This is about a city that demands service, but refuses to pay for it
This is about a city that refuses to recognize that without a reasoned, scientific approach to cat population management, the 'cat problem' will only get worse.
This is about the expectation that one person should cover the entire cost of a city wide program
This is about the refusal to accept that any person should make a living providing humane service to community cats
This is about the fact that Winnipeg truly does not value cats

For the second time this year, the town of Lorette, Manitoba has hired an animal control service to perform a cull of free roaming cats.  The reason given is that there are too many free roaming cats in town.  According to the company hired to perform the cull, pet cats with identification will be returned to owners, friendly cats with no identification will be rehomed, and feral cats will be destroyed.  The hope is that this will reduce the population.  It seems that no thought has been given to the kittens orphaned by the cull.

Over the past few days I have seen, first hand, the effect the cull is having.  Five starving kittens were brought to us by a citizen of Lorette.  Sadly, a dog got to the litter before they could be rescued, and a sixth kitten was killed.  Two other groups have taken in kittens orphaned by the cull, as well.  There are undoubtedly many more starving and dieing in horrible ways.  Of course, rescues and shelters will continue to help as many of the kittens as we can, but not all of them will be found in time.  They will suffer horribly, because of the short sighted, thoughtless actions of a few elected officials.

Sadly, the money the town has spent to kill cats has been completely wasted.  Lorette has embarked upon the one course that is virtually guaranteed to increase the number of cats living on its streets.  Removing some of the cats frees up resources (food and shelter) for the remaining cats.  Those cats will, in turn, have larger litters of kittens, and more of those kittens will survive into adulthood, joining the breeding population.  By spring of next year the town very likely will have more cats and kittens roaming the streets than were there to begin with.  Many of those will be the offspring of cats that were smart enough to avoid the traps set for them, and those smarter genes will be passed along (survival of the fittest), making future management efforts more difficult.

Lest anyone think that the town should forget about control, and go for eradication, I would remind them that total eradication is a long term, grotesquely expensive process that could only succeed on a small island.  Even there, success is a relative term -- the after effects of eradication are often worse than any problems caused by the cats:  http://www.tufcat.co.za/?page_id=7341

I would also remind you that animal control agencies all over North America have been killing cats for more than 100 years, in an effort to control their numbers.  Hundreds of millions of cats have died at their hands.  At no point in that time has the population ever gone down.
​
Truly the saddest thing about all of this is the fact that the town of Lorette was offered help to set up a humane, sustainable, cost effective cat management program.  Several organizations reached out to offer that help.  It was rejected.

Craig Street Cats is seeking the services of a mature, experienced person to act as shelter manager and be part of our innovative programs for Winnipeg's community cats. This is a permanent, full time position. The successful candidate will work closely with our staff, volunteers and veterinarian to provide exemplary care for cats and kittens in our programs.

Qualifications:

Current RAHT / RVT certification (or comparable university education and field experience)
Experience in a high volume shelter or veterinary clinic setting (or comparable field experience)
Understanding of and commitment to the No Kill Equation
Ability to maintain accurate records and work with shelter management software
Ability to work efficiently in a high stress environment
Ability to work with volunteers
Understanding of the non-profit model and fundraising.

Duties will include managing and training staff, volunteers and foster families, transporting cats to and from veterinary appointments, liaising with our veterinary clinic, maintaining shelter records and reporting to the Executive Director. A reliable vehicle is necessary. Hours of work will include days, evenings and weekends. The successful candidate will be part of the on call rotation.

Craig Street Cats is Winnipeg's largest cat specific animal welfare organization, working to humanely reduce the number of cats living on our streets.  Our innovative programs include comprehensive colony management, a neo-natal kitten nursery, and an adoption centre dedicated to cats and kittens coming through our programs.

Please forward resume, references and salary expectations to:

Craig Street Cats
16-1421  St. James St.
Winnipeg, MB
R3H 0Y9

We appreciate all applications, but only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

It’s that time of year when most of us are thinking about heading off to the lake, or taking a summer vacation. The school year is over and kids are heading off to camp, or Grandma’s house. Mom and Dad are looking forward to a much needed break from the constant hubbub of parenting.

In the rescue world, though, we are just gearing up for our busiest time of year. A sad reality is that the time of year when we most need dedicated volunteers, those volunteers are least likely to be available. A for profit business might hire a few summer students to take up the slack. Non-profit organizations don’t have that option. This makes things difficult for us, but the situation is not hopeless.

For every family that heads off on vacation there is another that can’t get away. For every kid that goes to camp there is another whose family can’t afford it. For every family whose children are fully booked with summer activities, there is another desperately looking for things to keep their kids occupied. For every high school or university student who finds a summer job, there are more who need experience before they can get that first job.

Parents, are you looking for positive, life affirming activities for your 6 to 15 year olds? Why not spend one or two afternoons per week helping out? The kids can learn how to take care of a cat, including grooming and feeding, while you are helping with more adult tasks.

High School students 16 to 18 -- do you need experience before you can find a job? We can give you experience doing responsible things that help save lives. You give us a few hours each week -- we give you a great boost for your resume!

University and college students -- are you majoring in an animal related field? Do you need hands on experience working with companion animals or field experience learning to live trap? Give us a few hours per week, and we’ll make sure you get the training you need.

Does any of this sound good to you? Good! Please call us at 204 421-1919 or visit our volunteer page: http://craigstcats.ca/volunteer.htm... We’re looking forward to meeting you!

Craig Street Cats is Manitoba’s largest cat specific animal welfare organization. Our programs include community cat management (TNR, feeding stations, winter shelters), kitten rescue, kitten fostering, neo-natal kitten nursery, a no kill cat and kitten adoption centre, and community outreach.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:

Lynne Scott
Craig Street Cats
16-1421 St. James St.
204 421-1919
lscott@craigstcats.ca
www.craigstcats.ca

Anonymous Donor Issues Challenge to Support Craig Street Cats

Winnipeg, MB, May 21, 2016:  In a spectacular show of support for the work done by Craig Street Cats, a major donor has offered to match donations received throughout the month of May, up to $20,000.

"One of our major donors has issued a challenge to bring in much needed support for our life saving programs for Winnipeg's community cats." said Lynne Scott, Executive Director of Craig Street Cats.  According to Scott, the donor has offered to match, dollar for dollar, all donations received in May, up to a total of $20,000.  "This comes at the end of our most challenging year to date," says Scott. "Last spring's forced move, the summer's disease outbreak, and delays obtaining necessary permits from the city all put us in a precarious position.  This matching challenge is truly a Godsend."  So far CSC supporters have contributed just over $7,000 toward the challenge.  The organization has 10 days to raise the remaining $13,000 in order to receive the full $20,000 from the donor.

About Craig Street Cats:  Craig Street Cats is a non-profit organization working to humanely reduce Winnipeg's free roaming cat population, rescue kittens and educate the public about community cats.  CSC is the largest cat specific animal welfare organization in Winnipeg, caring for over 750 cats in its managed colonies, foster homes and adoption centre.

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