Volunteers Use Head, Heart, Hands and Technology to Relocate Colony

By Peter Crowe, Best Friends Network Volunteer

Things couldn’t have gotten any worse for the large feral cat colony on Flank road in Petersburg, VA. Located not far from Michael Vick’s infamous kennels, the cats lived in and around an abandoned house on land scheduled to be turned into a subdivision. With a deadline hovering over their heads, and not much hope on the horizon, a call was put out to help the cats and a group of Best Friends’ volunteers responded. Using a combination of technology, diplomacy and hard work, the rescuers initiated a deadline-oriented relocation project that is on track to save all the cats in the colony.

Best Friends’ Volunteers Unite
The first volunteer on the scene was local resident Jackie W. Jackie contacted Best Friends and was put in touch with New York based volunteer Wilma Lo, who put out the call for help to the Best Friends’ volunteer network. Responding to the initial call were Trisha Fravel, Frankie Prouty, Nikki Morris and Peter Crowe.

Tackling Obstacles Head-On
The first hurdle the volunteers had to overcome was getting the cats away from the junk-filled house scheduled to be demolished in three weeks. Not to mention addressing the complaints about the cats from the residents who lived next door at the assisted living center.

Racing against the clock, the volunteer group decided the best plan of attack was to temporarily relocate the cats away from the house and living center. They constructed temporary shelters and sprinkled food around them to attract the cats away from the living center and the soon-to-be-demolished house.

Crowe contacted the living center’s managers and updated them on all facets of the operation. “I wanted to gain their trust and cooperation and to make sure they were completely up-to-date on what we were doing, in fact, giving them more information than they needed,” he says.

Crowe also contacted the land owner for permission to leave the temporary shelters on his property. After obtaining all the necessary permissions, the group spent one weekend securing the dilapidated house by blocking all entrance holes and placing the temporary shelters and new feeding stations.

Finding Permanent Relocation Sites
While the Virginia crew was engaged in their ground efforts, volunteer Wilma Lo was busy searching for permanent relocation spots for the cats. “Relocation is the choice of last resort, but these little guys were losing their home. The options left to ferals in this position are very limited. Either they end up in a shelter where they are euthanized, or at another feral colony which is often not a successful integration,” says Lo.

Lo has experience in locating barns and horse stables that are willing to take feral cats to help control rodent populations. “It’s a very good match,” she adds.

Good Communication Key to Success
Having addressed the most pressing issues, it quickly became clear to Crowe that to ensure the next phase of the rescue operation ran smoothly, the group needed a centralized communications process. After all, it’s no small task to keep five volunteers informed about the feeding, trapping, transporting for spay/neuter operations and relocation of 80-90 feral cats to distant and permanent spots.

His solution: a custom-built website to organize all the remaining logistical information.

What began as a two page web site has blossomed into six pages packed with detail. To familiarize all responders with the project, the web site contains a satellite image of the site; contact information and Google map directions to all barn relocation sites; the number of cats (male or female) requested for each site transport; the number of traps and transport crates needed; plans for building temporary shelters, and even the cargo space measurements for each responder’s vehicle.

Despite their benefits, web sites have limitations—not many people have the knowledge to edit html code or cascading style sheets, so the volunteers added Yahoo! Groups to their toolbox. Crowe explains, “Yahoo! Groups allows all users to participate in a much more dynamic way than by using email. In addition, it has a group calendar that makes long range planning a breeze.”

Crowe recently became a Best Friends’ team leader in Virginia and has nothing but praise for his fellow rescuers. “This has been an all out effort by all volunteers and we couldn’t have done it without the “glue” of Best Friends binding us together.”

He especially singled out Lo of New York and local volunteer Jackie W. “Both of these ladies have spent a large amount of out-of-pocket money on top of what they are already doing.” Another noteworthy effort came from volunteer Fravel, who at one point offered her garage as a potential foster home for up to 35 cats.

Help Still Needed
To assist in this ongoing large scale effort, the Virginia group is asking for both donations and other forms of assistance. “This is an ongoing project which will continue into the summer,” says Lo. “We’ll be transporting cats as far north as Rhode Island and as far south as South Carolina, so drivers would be a great help.”

?Rescue Effort Wish List
• Volunteers with large vehicles who live close to the I-95 corridor to assist in the multi-stage transportation of cats to a variety of states
• Large collapsible cages for housing or transport
• Volunteers who are skilled in woodwork who can help build holding cages for the cats to live in while adjusting to their new sites (plans will be provided)
• Lumber and supplies to build the holding cages
• Local volunteers in Virginia or in neighboring states who can assist with trapping (must have experience), transporting and temporarily fostering ferals
• Traps (goal is 8 traps) and transport crates (as many as possible)
• Wet and dry cat food, litter, small litter trays and food/water bowls
• Monetary donations are most welcome.

?Volunteers are asked to contact:
Peter Crowe (703) 795-4881, petecrowe@gmail.com or Wilma Lo (212) 573-8613

?Monetary donations are 501c3 tax-deductible. They may be sent to:
Courthouse Cats Feral Rescue, c/o Jackie W.
P.O. Box 131
Prince George VA, 23875

Photos of project and volunteers by Peter Crowe
Photo of feral cat by Troy Snow
Posted by Fran Farrell, Best Friends staff