www.Saveacat.

org | Update | Summer 2018

ALLEY CAT RESCUE

AN ALLIANCE FOR CAT PROTECTION
Kitten season begins,
and it’s the busiest time
of year at ACR.
We at Alley Cat Rescue have had an
action-packed spring helping special
needs cats, advocating for cats
nationally and launching our May
Spay Challenge. Your compassion
for these fragile lives, dependent on
our care, is overwhelming. Alley Cat
Rescue has already helped hundreds
of precious cats this year, yet there are
many more to help, left abandoned or
injured and in desperate need of care.
This life-saving work is only possible
because of our dedicated donors and
we thank you for your commitment
and compassion towards cats.
ACR rushed to save kittens and a nursing mother who
were being harassed by children throwing rocks. Only the
mother below and these two kittens survived.

Humane Education
In June we heard from a distraught supporter who had
rescued two kittens. He heard that children were throwing
rocks at a mother cat and her kittens and had already
killed two kittens. When he got to the scene, he found two
small kittens and brought them to us. ACR rescuers went
to the location early the next day and were able to find the
mom hiding under a car, likely searching for her kittens. We
Louise Holton, humanely trapped her and the cats are recovering in ACR’s
care. This incident illustrates why humane education is so
President important.

Teaching children compassion towards animals at a young age can help stop animal cruelty before
it begins. Children who are cruel to animals are more likely to have behavioral issues and continued
criminal activity in adulthood. Humane education may be able to stop the cycle of violence before
it begins.

Summer Update
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The Mighty Thor Recovers

AN AFTERNOON OF TEACHING
He was the boss of the neighborhood, but
TNR BECAME A RUSH TO THE
a fight led to a terrible injury. EMERGENCY ROOM.

In early May, we received a call from a

concerned citizen who was feeding an
injured cat. He asked us to teach him
trap-neuter-return so he could help
this cat and we jumped into action.
Unfortunately, when we arrived it was
worse than we could’ve imagined.
The poor cat was lying on the ground
and could barely move, even though
he was clearly frightened by our
presence. We did not even lay a trap
for him because we knew we had to
act immediately before it was too
late. Our trained rescuer used leather
gloves and a towel to safely wrap THOR’S BRIGHT BLUE EYES,
him up and place him in a carrier for STRENGTH OF WILL, AND
transport. Soon after, our veterinarian STORY OF RESILIANCE FOUND
assessed the cat and found wounds for his strong and resilient manner.
all over his body. She determined
HIM A NEW FOREVER HOME
Our staff was able to nurse him back
that his leg was so severly injured to health and saw Thor transform into
FAST!
and infected that it would have to be a social, affectionate and goofy boy
removed if he was to have any chance as the days went on. After Thor was
of surviving. After the amputation, he fully recovered, he was adopted into a
was brought to ACR headquarters to loving home with a young woman who
recuperate and given the name Thor is happy to dote on him!

The May Spay Challenge

Each year we reach out and encourage the world veterinary community to
show their compassion and get involved by offering free or low-cost spay/
neuter services for feral cats. Vets and clinics meet the challenge by providing
services to at least one cat for each week in May and many go well beyond.
Clinics that take the Challenge make new connections with colony caretakers
and TNR groups in the community, gain valuable experience working with
feral cats, and reduce suffering by stopping the cycle of reproduction among
unsterilized cats.

ACR is proud to take the May Spay Challenge too! In May we held five Cheap
Fix Clinic days (instead of the usual two per month), worked with three
partner vets, and fixed 116 cats through our Maryland and L.A. programs.

CHEAP • 5 CLINICS HELD

• 100+ VETS/CLINICS • 23,000+ AND
DVM • 31 U.S. STATES
• 6 COUNTRIES
CAT STILL COUNTING
AT PRESS TIME!
ACR • 3 VET PARTNERS
• 82 FERALS S/N
# S/N FIX • 116 TOTAL S/N
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Google Searches for Cat Compromise

A New York Times article unfairly blamed an employee-led community cat
program for nearby burrowing owl deaths.
ACR is pushing Google to continue to humanely manage loss. The New York Times article even points out that a golf
their feral cat population amid criticism from bird groups. course right next to the Google headquarters has caused
A New York Times article came out at the end of May the death of multiple burrowing owls. We sent a letter to
which focused on criticism Google has been receiving from Google executives and an action alert to our supporters
groups who claim that the employee-led trap-neuter- telling them to contact Google in support of their
return program at their headquarters is causing population trap-neuter-return program.
declines of the burrowing owl.

Alley Cat Rescue cares deeply about protecting all animals.

TNR at Google since 2010:
This is why we have been working to prevent cats from -149 rescued, adopted, placed
being scapegoated and instead focus on the true cause of
bird population declines: human expansion and habitat -68 returned

Action Alert:
Support the KITTEN Act
In the beginning of May, reports
emerged about the USDA performing
cruel experiments on kittens. In
these experiments, researchers
would intentionally infect kittens
with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite.
After the kittens shed the parasite in
their stool, they were simply killed
and treated like discarded medical
supplies. In response to the news
reports, Michigan Representative Mike
Bishop introduced the KITTEN Act to
end painful and stressful experiments
on cats. Reach out to your legislators
today and ask them to co-sponsor
and vote for the KITTEN Act!

Our petition demanding the USDA stop killing

kittens for research has nearly 60k signatures!
Looking ahead...
IMPROVING QUALITY OF CARE
Planned intake and quarantine area would
improve cat and kitten care at ACR.
If you follow us on social media, you
know the stories of Leon, Sputnik,
Hardy, Thor, and most recently
Survivor, who’s been receiving
veterinary care in our combined
intake/quarantine space for a few
Survivor is healing weeks.
from a neck injury. He’s
We’d like to create separate intake,
feral and feels safe in quarantine, and long-term care areas
his box, but the scents in our existing space because this
would allow better treatment and
and noise of our intake accommodations for cats, especially
area stress him out. A those receiving extended medical
quite space with good care.
lighting would allow Improved lighting will help our vets
easier visual exams and and staff quickly and accurately
diagnose injuries and follow healing
less stressful handling. progress; increased cage space will
Thor’s initial recovery was in a small cage. He
could hardly move around and his combined
living and litter area resulted in frequent handling
and bathing. In a larger cage, Thor would have
had separate, more hygenic spaces and less
confinement stress.
reduce the stress of confinement
and allow cats room to move; and
an updated HVAC system will provide
better temperature control year-
round and reduce the transmission of
airborne germs and diseases.
These improvements will have a big
impact on our work. By keeping kittens
healthy and decreasing the recovery
time for injured cats, we’ll be able to
get cats adopted faster, TNR’d faster,
and ultimately increase the number
of cats and kittens we can help.
The initial project budget for lighting,
air quality, and accommodation
improvents for our existing intake and
quarantine space is $50,000.
YOU CAN HELP US
CREATE BETTER
OUTCOMES FOR
EVEN MORE CATS
AND KITTENS.
PLEASE SUPPORT
OUR INTAKE AREA
PROJECT TODAY WITH
A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE
DONATION!