The unhappy plight of feral cats, particularly within the winter, might be heartbreaking. Left to fend for themselves, chilly, hungry, and with out shelter, a lot of them don’t survive. But Best Friends Animal Society is doing their half to fight this drawback by means of their barn cat program.
“The barn cat program, also known as the working cats program, essentially utilizes cats that can’t be returned to their original colony to help with pest control,” mentioned Patrick Theobald, Best Friends Animal Society’s group engagement supervisor.
“Our ultimate goal in taking in outdoor cats is to trap, neuter, vaccinate, and return them to their original colonies,” he explains. “For those cats who cannot be returned to their original colonies for whatever reason, we have found that they have great success as barn cats.”
Best Friends Animal Society could be very a lot based on the Golden Rule do unto others as you’ll have them do unto you,” mentioned Theobald. “In the eighties, more than 17 million animals were losing their lives in animal shelters. The main goal of the Best Friends Animal Society was to get animal shelters in America to the point where every animal who is able to get a second chance gets that second chance.”
Best Friends now gathers knowledge from 1000’s of animal shelters across the nation to evaluate the progress relating to their no-kill initiative. In 2022, roughly 360,000 animals misplaced their lives in shelters, and the aim is to succeed in no-kill standing by 2025. The barn cat program was created to assist shut this hole that’s conserving shelters from reaching no-kill standing.
“Barn cats are different from community cats because we place them at farms, in backyards and other areas as natural pest control,” mentioned Best Friends Animal Society advertising and marketing specialist Jaimi Haig. “They are waiting at shelters to be placed this way or they will be put down.”
Those that aren’t adopted might lose their lives within the shelter.
“These cats are creating a gap in our no-kill progress across the state, and we really need to let people know what they are, and how to get the word out to folks that need natural pest control so we can save them,” mentioned Haig.
The cats getting used for the barn cats program come from colonies of out of doors cats. These cats wouldn’t make splendid indoor animals.
“These cats aren’t comfortable being house pets,” mentioned Theobald. “They may not trust people and they may not be comfortable indoors. A lot of times there is the hope that if they are rescued from outside and dropped off at a shelter they’ll get adopted and become house pets, but that doesn’t really end up happening.”
One barn cat, Leopold, who was adopted by means of Best Friends, is presently thriving at Horse Haven in Southern Utah.
“Leopold just seems totally chilled and relaxed,” mentioned Jen Reid, supervisor of Horse Haven.
Leopold has made himself at home roaming Horse Haven. He has arrange store within the hay room, which is giant and secluded, giving him the area he wants whereas remaining protected from different illnesses.
“He’s doing his job well, including other duties as assigned,” mentioned Reid.
Best Friends educates native shelters everywhere in the nation on finest practices regarding animal sheltering, diversion packages, and initiatives just like the barn cat program.
“This program is an off-shoot of the community cat program,” mentioned Theobald. “The main goal is to manage populations in the state to the point that they are as low as possible. We do believe every cat should live indoors, but the reality is that wherever there are people there will be cats. We want all of these community cats to have the most positive outcome.”
Barn cats are useful for these seeking to do away with rodents or pests of their yard, barn, or secure, and who reside in a comparatively protected place, free from main roadways and potential predators.
“The benefit of getting a barn cat versus just taking free-living cats is that they are already fixed, vaccinated, and healthy,” mentioned Theobald. “Cats can reproduce very quickly in good conditions, and if we’re not looking after these cats and controlling their populations by neutering them, they can very quickly overpopulate. That is bad for the cats and the area.”
Theobald says the cats are simpler when adopted in pairs.
“We try to always place barn cats in at least pairs so they have a friend to spend time with,” he mentioned. “It is generally more effective if you place more than one cat. Typically, if you just place one cat, they’ll wander looking for friends.”
Best Friends Animal Society is seeing nice success on this program the place it’s being applied, due to the training they supply to native shelters throughout the nation.
“We used to place more than 20 cats per month with Best Friends alone,” mentioned Theobald. “But we, ourselves, have had fewer cat placements lately because the community is embracing this idea. We want to see other groups help in this effort. This has been a direct result of the education given to local shelters from Best Friends Society. We are looking to be more of a community mentor and we want to teach them the best way to take care of these cats. That’s a huge part of what we do.”
To undertake a barn cat, which is fee-waived by means of Best Friends’ barn cat program, go to their web site.
Feature Image: When caught feral cats are spayed or neutered, and have their ears tipped to determine them. All photographs courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society.
