If you have been following me for a while, you know that I am a huge advocate for TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) and that I have been volunteering with a local TNR & Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Organization for over 5 years now. What you might not know is that I am also the sponsor of The Stray Cat Club at the high school that I teach at. This is a club that I am trying to educate the younger generation of cat advocates. Today was our monthly clinic where we had 96 cats come through our doors. That is a lot of cats. Like A LOT of cats!! It was also the first clinic that some of the members of The Stray Cat Club came to learn about TNR and volunteered.
Teach them young
Most of the volunteers that work our clinics at Feral Cat Assistance Program are older, seasoned cat advocates. FCAP was started over 25 years ago with the grand idea that they were going to single handedly eliminate the overpopulation of feral and community cats. It was an amazing idea. Sadly, after 25 years and many, many clinics later, the overpopulation does not seem to be getting any smaller. Like I said, I have been volunteering with them for over 5 years and I can’t remember having a clinic with less that 60 cats coming through. I am baffled at how there are still so many cats that need to be TNR. How are there so many cats still??
A Stray Cat Club member working with cats under anesthesia.
I have also realized over the past 5 years that none of us who have been there forever are not getting any younger. And sadly, I don’t think we are going to be able to eliminate the cat overpopulation during our own lifetime. Which is why I started The Stray Cat Club. We NEED the younger generation to start helping. To start getting involved. We need them to become a part of the solution. Educating the younger generation of cat advocates is essential to the continued success of TNR. Today, I had 3 members volunteer at our clinic. They saw firsthand how many cats came through our program. It was a proud moment to see them jump in and learn about how clinics and what we are doing each month to help these cats.
The Next Generation
Currently, my Stray Cat Club has over 50 members. It is one of the biggest, non-academic clubs at my school. Not all of them are able to volunteer at our clinics. However, some of them have started fostering with the local rescues that we work with. They all have been participating in our food and supply drives each month to help rescues and colony feeders. They are all very excited and involved in different ways and that is what matters. Not everyone has to be a part of the solution in the same way and that is ok. What matters is that we are all part of the solution. There are so many different ways that you can help. Volunteer, donate, or just share posts that you may see. The more people that know about TNR and Low Cost Spay/Neuter, the faster we can get a handle on this problem. Remember, it takes a village.
One of the 96 cats that came through FCAP’s Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic.
“True compassion is showing Kindness towards animals, without expecting anything in return” ― Paul Oxton
Lora Lee 
