Unemployment and home foreclosures run rampant within the lower income, industrialized East San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, and consequently there is an explosion in the abandoned cat population there as well.

Routinely these community cats and their kittens are sent to the East Valley Animal Shelter, which has one of the highest levels of homeless cat surrenders and euthanasia rates in LA. Located in close proximity to this area, FixNation, a free full-time spay/neuter clinic for homeless cats, decided to tackle this issue in order to decrease the euthanasia rate of cats in the area.

Bilingual Flyers Communicate Free Services to Residents

Once the objective was set, FixNation created the East Valley Outreach Project to inform the public that the clinic provides a free and better option than taking cats to the East Valley Animal Shelter where they would probably be euthanized. In July, volunteers began spreading the word as they canvassed door-to-door, hanging bags on doorknobs filled with FixNation bilingual flyers written in English on one side, Spanish on the other.

These educational materials alert citizens to the plight of homeless cats in their neighborhoods, explain  that the humane trap/neuter/return (TNR) program really works and lets them know of the free spay/neuter services provided at the nearby FixNation clinic. Residents quickly grasp that this allows them a beneficial, cost-effective way to co-exist with these community cats.

FixNation also distributed its standard flyer to local businesses, libraries, pet stores, veterinary offices, and recreational facilities. And covering all community aspects, emails about the campaign were sent to local directors of animal welfare, city council members, cat rescue groups and neighborhood councils.
 
So Successful Its Next Targets Are Sylmar and Pacoima

The results are in the numbers. The significant increase in the volume of FixNation’s daily cat spay/neuter surgeries is proof positive that this outreach campaign works beautifully.

“We’re doing a very high-volume of spay/neuters every day to the point that we are solidly booked three to four weeks in advance,” Kim Senn, vice president of operations, at FixNation, Inc. states. “In July our volunteers went out every single week, and we noticed immediate growth in the number of spay/neuter surgeries.

“There’s been so many gratifying experiences like the time we left materials at a resident’s door — her ferals peering out at us there in the front yard — and the very next week we saw her application arrive.”

Leigh O’Bryan, a veteran volunteer with Best Friends Catnippers, jumped on board the East Valley Outreach Project right from the start.

“Because I am a resident of East Valley, I easily see just how many homeless animals live here,” she says. “I love this Outreach Project as it’s just a great way to get the word out, and the volunteers see the results of their efforts right away. I really admire FixNation and Catnippers for all the work they do on behalf of these animals.”

Who needs a treadmill?  Instead of lounging and sleeping in on weekends, O’Bryan gets up and goes canvassing before it becomes too hot. It’s not only a great exercise workout, it’s her way of helping the animals … and as the program continues, she makes a plea for others to climb aboard and volunteer too.

The Outreach Project has been so successful that it is now targeting the Sylmar and Pacoima zip codes. All by itself Sylmar has the largest population of feral and abandoned cats in the entire LA area.

A Newfound Relationship with East Valley Animal Shelter

And, one other accomplishment many community animal welfare groups would envy, is the development of a great partnership with the East Valley Animal Shelter’s staff. “Grateful” and “embracing” are comments from the staff ever since a new direct line was established making it easier for the East Valley Shelter to refer people to FixNation.

“It’s a very symbiotic relationship,” says Pat Ott, animal care technician supervisor at the East Valley Animal Shelter. She is very grateful indeed as she explains, “None of us want to euthanize. We’re in favor of TNR, but are not allowed by the city to do it; so we refer a lot of people to FixNation, which is just a wonderful alternative, and they’re the reason we’re going to see a drop in our euthanasia numbers.”

Score this project as a wonderful accomplishment on all fronts with the neighborhoods, the residents, East Valley Animal Shelter, FixNation … and the cats and their kittens, which are undoubtedly the most appreciative of all.


For Additional Information

Please email: info@fixnation.org

Join the Best Friends Focus on Felines campaign and see how you can start a TNR program in your area.

Watch the video that highlights two Iowa communities and their TNR programs.

Read more about Caring for Community Cats.



Photos by Clay Myers, Best Friends' photographer.