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Practicing and promoting Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois
We're
a 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and
practicing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois. We
believe that TNR is the only effective, humane and long-term solution
to the problem of cat overpopulation.
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The Feral Fixers e-Newsletter - Issue #29 - March 2011
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Dear Friend,
The weather is finally starting to warm up a bit (though this is Chicago - we'll probably get snow next week). Trapping of feral cats is beginning to ramp up and so are our efforts. Every cat spayed/neutered now is one less that will add to the burden of pet overpopulation.
We have a wonderful story to share with everyone this month, and that is status of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in the City of Elmhurst. In her monthly Letter from the President, Tammy describes the truly enlightened attitude towards TNR (and Feral Fixers!) recently adopted by the city management. More and more municipalities are climbing on board the TNR bandwagon and this just hastens the day when the problem of pet over-population will be solved. Hats off to Elmhurst!
In addition to this news, we also tell you about FlowerPower, our Spring Funraising campaign and the GusMobile, PAWS-Chicago's latest offering in their ongoing low-cost, high-volume spay/neuter efforts. We also share with you our latest spay/neuter numbers, tell you about our next upcoming Sweet Tomatoes Fun-raiser and much more.
Thank you for all of your continued support!
Sincerely,
Feral Fixers
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Letter from the President ElmhurstThere are many different areas in DuPage that are inhospitable to feral cats. None were more threatening than Elmhurst. When you start doing TNR, experts will advise you to pick a location that is "easy", so you can build your credibility without risk. We never worked that way, the need was just too great, all over! Then a few towns accepted TNR unofficially, they referred residents to us, even reimbursed us for costs, but did not publicly proclaim TNR as the accepted method for dealing with feral cats. And we are immensely grateful for those agreements! Then a group of people in Elmhurst came together, were initially going to form a separate organization, encountered some difficulties with that, but the individuals stayed strong and pursued the City of Elmhurst, working to change their stance on feral cats. One individual made the phone calls, spoke in town meetings, committee meetings and finally persevered and the City of Elmhurst publicly endorses TNR as the way that residents should deal with stray and feral cats in their town. This individual does not want to accept our praise and gratitude alone and insists that it took the group to make this happen, and we will honor their wishes, but HIP HIP HOORAY!!! We have neutered over 236 cats at 42 locations in Elmhurst since 2008 as of this writing. I am sure that the numbers will climb rapidly as more people learn that TNR is accepted and accessible! And as more people learn the right way to care for feral cats, resulting in fewer neighbor complaints, the entire town will benefit. Not only has Elmhurst publicly embraced TNR, but they have recommended that their residents call Feral Fixers when they see a stray or feral cat. Some months ago, they posted an article about TNR and Feral fixers on their website and now they have endorsed TNR and Feral Fixers (again) in their community newsletter, The Front Porch. Please take any and every opportunity to praise the City of Elmhurst for their progressive, positive and fiscally responsible decision to embrace TNR!!! |
Want to help?
Interested in helping Feral Fixers? We are looking for a 'few good volunteers'! Specifically, we're looking for someone to help us transport cats to and from PAWS (the Spay/Neuter clinic we use) in Chicago.
We need transport both in the morning and the afternoon. If you're interested in helping, call us at (630) 881-FXRS (3977) or email us at info@feralfixers.org.
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Flower Power!
No, we're not turning into hippies, but Feral Fixers has teamed up with the FlowerPower fundraising program to raise money for our Spring Campaign: Spring is for Kittens (not)! FlowerPower has a great selection of bulbs and plants that can be planted this spring and will really help spiff up your landscape. And, the best part is that they are donating 50% of your order amount to Feral Fixers! So, click on the FlowerPower logo to visit their website. This will help to satisfy that 'green-thumb urge' you're probably having about now and will really help Feral Fixers at the same time.
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Donate to Feral Fixers
Feral Fixers offers its TNR services to all colony caretakers, without charge. While we ask for donations from colony caretakers, we recognize that for some of them, any additional cost is just too much. Therefore we rely on donations from other individuals to make up the difference and allow us to continue our work. These donations allow us to spay/neuter additional cats, keep a 'bank' of traps and trap dividers we loan out for free, hold workshops and provide other educational benefits.
You can help us continue our work by clicking on the Donate button, above. This will take you to the PayPal website where you can donate to Feral Fixers via PayPal or credit card. Feral Fixers is a registered 501c3 charitable organization and all donations are deductible to the fullest amount allowed by law.
We greatly appreciate any amount you can afford to give - Thank You!
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The GusMobile arrives!
Feral Fixers brings the great majority of their cats to the PAWS-Chicago Spay/Neuter clinic. Their prices cannot be beat and the service they offer to the feral cats we (and others) bring in is a cut above. They are well aware that this is probably the only time that a feral cat will ever see a vet and so they take extra care to fix whatever problems the cat might have. The staff there is first-rate; they really 'get it' when it comes to TNR. PAWS is always upping their game with the latest example being the arrival of the GusMobile - a mobile Spay/Neuter clinic. This arrived just a couple of weeks ago and, after some preliminary testing and the inevitable teething pains, it is now in operation. They are now using it to augment the number of surgeries they can do on a Sunday (their busiest day). This is just another step that PAWS is taking to help end the severe pet over-population problem in Chicago and surrounding Cook County. PAWS - you rock!
(The picture thumbnail is of the GusMobile, of course. Click on it to see a full-size version).
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How many cats? - 2,582 !!
Feral Fixers was founded in September of 2007. In that abbreviated first year, Feral Fixers had 86 cats spayed / neutered. In 2008, Feral Fixers had 525 cats spayed / neutered and in 2009, Feral Fixers had 868 cats spayed / neutered. In 2010, Feral Fixers had 1,002 cats spayed / neutered! This year, Feral Fixers has had 101 cats spayed/neutered so far.
This brings us to a total of 2,582 cats. Clicking on the abacus will send you to the Feral Fixers 'Statistics' page where you can see our progress, month-by-month, since we've started work.
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Calendar of Upcoming Events
April 19th, 2011 - Another Sweet Tomatoes Fun-raiser! We have booked another event at the Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant located at 2820 Highland Avenue in Lombard (630-932-5009). If you come for a meal between 5:00pm and 8:00pm on April 19th, please give a copy of this flyer to the person collecting your money. Sweet Tomatoes will donate 15% of all proceeds collected from people bringing that flyer to Feral Fixers! Come out, bring your sweetie and join us for a great dinner and help Feral Fixers!
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Other ways to help Feral Fixers
You can help Feral Fixers by simply shopping at Gordon Food Services (GFS) and mentioning our name during checkout. If you shop at GFS, when they ask if your purchase is for a business or charity, all you have to do is say Feral Fixers - you don't need a card or anything and a percentage of your purchase goes to FF at the end of the year. Feral Fixers is on file, they just type it in and that is all you have to do. Pass the info on to anyone you know who shops there, anyone can help us raise funds in this way with no added expense! GFS has some great and convenient products - check out what they have to offer! It's like a warehouse club without the membership fee and they have similar large packaging and prices. And if you don't see something in the store, look online and you can order it for pickup at the store, and Feral Fixers still benefits! Thank you Gordon Food Services!
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Kittens, kittens and more kittens... Feral Fixers continues to be inundated with calls about "I found some kittens - can you take them for me?" Even though we are not a shelter, we still get these calls.
The situation is simple; there are just too many kittens and it's overwhelming the shelters and the fosters. It's SO important to 'TNR that mom' BEFORE she has her next litter. We're now in the position of usually having to ask people who call about this to 'step up' and socialize and foster these kittens on their own.
And, if everyone who is thinking of adopting a kitten or a cat would adopt TWO of them, rather than just one, this could make a significant dent in the problem. It's better for the cats anyway, to have some companionship when their owner / caretaker is not home. It's OK to adopt from any shelter, even from Craigslist as this is where many caretakers are trying to place their cats.
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Shop for Feral Fixers
Want to purchase something purr-fect for your cat-lover friends and help out Feral Fixers at the same time? Just visit our CafePress store and Buy Something! In addition to the Gaiam Yoga Mat shown to the right, we have T-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons, hoodies, mouse pads, gym bags, messenger bags, coffee mugs, tote-bags, pet food bowls, etc. A portion of each sale goes to help us in our TNR efforts. To visit the store, just click on the Yoga Mat or visit our website and click on the ' Buy Something' button at the top - Thank you! |
Visit us on the Web
Visit our website at www.feralfixers.org. There you can donate to us (via PayPal or credit card), visit our store, read the latest news, and learn more about feral cats. If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can also sign up to be on our mailing list so you don't miss a thing!
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What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?
TNR is a full management plan in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors in cities, towns, and rural areas are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized by veterinarians. When space is available, adoptable cats and kittens are transferred to sheltering organizations to be adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats unsocialized to humans are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of their original caretakers.
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Feral Fixers, NFP, is a certified 501c3 corporation - EIN Number 13-4364615 |
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