‘Community cat’ management program wants volunteers in Port St. Lucie
Bryan Lloyd, operations supervisor of the Port St. Lucie Police Department’s Animal Control Division, on Sept. 25, 2023, talks of the necessity for extra volunteers for the town’s entice, neuter, vaccinate, return program to assist management “group cats.”
In some respects, the property on the finish of a quiet Palm City cul-de-sac is not all that completely different from others you discover alongside the Treasure Coast.
It’s a gated group with a group of tidy homes and neatly tended yards, inhabited by residents who’re dwelling their finest lives in an idyllic setting.
Also, like different neighborhoods on the Treasure Coast, an inflow of latest neighbors is a trigger for concern.
Most of the residents at 6807 SW Wedelia Terrace are unlikely to picket Martin County Commission conferences with “no progress” indicators, although. As intelligent as they’re, cats aren’t identified for his or her political activism.
‘Running with the massive cats’
That tackle is the situation of Caring Fields Felines, a cat sanctuary that has been in operation since 2000. Pauline Glover, Caring Fields’ government director, describes the place as “just a bit rescue operation, however we will run with the massive dogs. Or huge cats, nonetheless you wish to put it.”
Glover is being modest. The sanctuary, funded largely by means of donations, is much completely different from run-of-the-mill animal shelters. Instead of dwelling in cages, a lot of the cats stay in one of many 15 miniature homes scattered in regards to the property. Their houses are outfitted with beds and toys, with partitions embellished by the various volunteers who help with the operation.
The air-conditioned homes have kitchen services for meal preparation. Radios pipe in soothing music to maintain the cats and the volunteers firm.
The homes are outfitted with cat doorways, naturally, so the residents are free to go exterior and roam fenced-in yards when the climate’s good. Some are identified to congregate in bushes, surveying their environment with typical feline indifference.
Because the structure is so completely different from most shelters, Caring Fields wants lots of volunteers to maintain the grounds tidy and the feline inhabitants fed and watered.
While some residents are shy, others have huge personalities, like Armando, a 15-year-old who used to repeatedly greet guests till he turned stricken with leukemia and needed to be sequestered with different cats with the identical sickness.
“We known as him the mayor as a result of he was the chief of the pack,” stated Joanne Hamel, one of many sanctuary’s volunteers.
A couple of with particular wants stay within the facility’s administrative workplaces, the place a full-time workers of seven can maintain nearer tabs on them. The workers contains veterinarians, who can are likely to sick or injured kitties at on-site medical services.
A well-liked enclave for Florida felines
At any given time, about 150 to 160 cats stay at Caring Fields. As with the animals discovered in additional standard shelters, most of the cats who arrive there are strays or given up by their house owners for varied causes.
Numerous cats come from Okeechobee County, which has no shelter services.
The homes have “acclimation rooms” the place new arrivals can keep behind lattice partitions and doorways till the opposite inhabitants get used to their scent. And vice versa.
“Everyone has to get alongside right here ― and so they just about do,” Hamel stated.
Caring for therefore many critters is an enormous job. To supply only one instance, Caring Fields goes by means of about 6,000 kilos of kitty litter each 5 months.
While among the older cats might by no means be adopted due to well being challenges or different causes, the power claims a 100% adoption charge for kittens.
Managing the kitten inhabitants turns into particularly difficult this time of 12 months.
An explosion of kittens is coming
While cats can and do mate year-round, feline mating cycles have sure seasonal peaks and valleys.
While folks speak about rabbits being extraordinarily energetic breeders, cats aren’t any slouches on this regard, both.
Cats can attain sexual maturity inside just a few months after they’re born. Once they turn out to be sexually energetic, a feminine cat can produce a number of litters of kittens in a single 12 months.
Pregnant cats usually give beginning just a little greater than two months after they turn out to be pregnant. After producing a litter of kittens, a feminine might be able to mate once more as quickly as eight weeks.
This may clarify why animal management consultants stress the significance of spaying and neutering pets.
Perhaps as a result of kittens have higher odds of surviving and thriving throughout heat climate months, one of many peak seasons for brand new kittens begins in April and continues all through the late summer season months.
Last 12 months, for instance, Caring Fields had about 385 kittens move by means of its doorways. More than 300 of them arrived throughout the peak spring/summer season season.
Cats and snowbirds do not combine
Unfortunately, the Great Kittening (which sounds prefer it ought to be the title of a Stephen King novel) occurs when the sanctuary’s stockpile of volunteers hits a low ebb.
“We have lots of volunteers and foster volunteers who’re snowbirds,” Hamel stated. “When they depart in April, they do not come again till November. It’s a problem.”
The numbers fluctuate, however Caring Fields normally has a volunteer workers of round 100, most of whom are concerned in feeding the cats and cleansing their homes.
However, of that whole, solely a couple of quarter are thought-about “core” volunteers, who’re repeatedly at Caring Fields a number of days every week. Of these 20 to 25 core volunteers, about 5 migrate northward in heat climate months.
So sure, Caring Fields wants volunteers. Hamel stated the basic necessities for volunteers embrace reliability and a willingness to get soiled and sweaty in situations that may be sizzling and humid or wet. Current volunteers vary in age from 8 to 93, with some highschool college students incomes credit score for his or her work.
It ought to go with out saying, however loving cats can also be a prerequisite of the job.
Who is aware of? A stint as a feline housekeeper could also be simply the enhance your resume wants.
To study extra about Caring Fields, name 772-463-7386 or go to the organization’s web site, www.cffelines.org
This column displays the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him through e-mail at [email protected] or at 772-232-5424.
