Woman, veterinarian, rescue group, and Best Friends volunteers save 80+ Georgia felines

By Barbara Williamson, Best Friends staff

Best Friends Animal Society has embraced a different concept about what are commonly called “feral cats,” saying these cats are individuals and there is no one-size-fits all response that works. The ongoing work with the “Dairy Cats” in Georgia illustrate why Best Friends’ flexible “community cats” approach is so important.

(Miss Buster was originally named Buster Brown – until it was discovered she was a girl)

Deborah Smith-Callahan reached out to Best Friends’ No More Homeless Pets team for help with about 80 cats at a dairy farm who were in bad shape.

“I received a call from a veterinarian who had treated cattle on a South Georgia dairy farm. She contacted me because she knew of my work with rescue organizations and was very distressed about the condition of approximately 80 cats living at this dairy farm. She told me that the cats were emaciated and sick. She was told that ‘there were just too many,’ and that the owner had ordered his employees to stop feeding and watering them so that they would ‘go away,’

“Not quite knowing what to do, I sought out Claudine Wilkins, Best Friends’ Georgia consultant, who put me in touch with Medha Isaacs, No More Homeless Pets specialist at Best Friends. Medha recommended that I visit the farm and personally assess the situation, which I did the following week.

(Tony the Tiger is not only incredibly handsome, but demands companionship)

“What I found at this facility was sickening. There were cats wherever I looked…all very skinny, many with severe respiratory conditions, and signs of diarrhea everywhere. Almost all had eye infections, and several had eyes that had ruptured. Most were adult cats, but there were many were kittens as well.”

Taking action for animals
Deborah really didn’t have a plan A or a plan B in place, but when she was met with a wall of indifference to the cats’ plight at the dairy farm, she knew she had to do something. The response was “take them away or kill them.” She swallowed hard and said she could not take all 80+ and pleaded for the farmer and his staff to allow her to start a spay/neuter and feeding program at the farm. Deborah also quickly realized that many of these cats were friendly and there were many kittens milling about. She scooped up as many of the kittens as she could and the friendliest of the adult cats.

She had 21 loaded in carriers; filling every spare inch of available space in her tiny car…and then she realized one skinny black cat with a funny tail had decided she wasn’t about to be left behind.

“As I was about to climb into the car to drive away, I discovered there was a skinny black female cat with an almost non-existent tail (just 2 inches long) who was lying under the driver's side of my car. This little cat was super friendly and purring away. It almost seemed like she was asking me to take her with me. I just couldn't bear to leave her behind, and placed her on my lap for the five hour drive home. And Ellie is now living like a queen in her adoptive home.”

And maybe it was the power of intent, but while Deborah may not have started out with a plan of action, the plan organically evolved.

Collaborative effort makes it happen
“The approximately 25 cats were sick and starving. On the way back to Atlanta, I placed a call to Dr. Jan Hines, senior veterinarian at Alpharetta Animal Hospital. He told me to drive straight to the clinic, where his staff was waiting to assess and treat all the cats.

“Once these medically-fragile cats were stabilized, the next challenge was finding housing for them. One of our neighbors is Martin Savidge, Emmy-award winning TV reporter formerly with NBC and now host of PBS’s World Focus. Martin and his wife, Blis, generously agreed to provide a small barn in our neighborhood to house the cats.

“They are now in spacious horse stalls which have been enclosed with special fencing. The cats have heated boxes, climbing structures, and large windows from which they observe the outside world. The Savidge family, who made this arrangement possible, even helps care for the cats, including feeding and litter box duty.

“PeachState Pet Partners graciously accepted all of the rescued dairy cats into their adoption program, and it is thanks to them that so many of these deserving cats now have good homes; 12 adoptions so far.”

(Georgia, now named Maggie, is now living the life of a pampered housecat)

Best Friends volunteers, including Elisabeth Gambill-Niksich and Chip Perry, as well as Kristy Grieco, a local cat rescue person, helped Deborah and through their collective efforts, 55 additional cats were trapped and spayed/neutered.

“We did have to return these cats to the farm, as there was no other place to take them. However, after much communication with the farm management, the condition for those cats has improved somewhat. We relocated some of them to a barn at the edge of the farm, and they are being cared for by the wonderful employee who had singled-handedly kept so many alive by secretly feeding them. This effort goes on, and it is our hope that we can eventually get all of the cats relocated.”

Deborah added that of the 55 cats that were trapped, two incredibly friendly cats named Curtis and Louise tested positive for FIV.

“Once again, we took a deep breath and a leap of faith and brought those two sweet cats back to Atlanta with us. We had no place to house such cats, but couldn’t stand to have them euthanized. An AIDS-support organization sent out a mass email plea for help, and a wonderful gentleman from Miami flew up to Atlanta, adopted BOTH cats, and drove them home in a rental car.”

(Gorgeous Callie is in need of a loving, but quiet, home environment)

As it pertains to the cats left behind, Deborah said “Because there are now fewer cats and some have been relocated to a different area of the farm, the owner is no longer threatening to fire the employee who has been feeding all of them. About 10 cats still need to be trapped and vetted, including being spayed/neutered, and we plan to return in the near future to do that.”

Deborah was asked why she decided to dive in on this challenging rescue:
“Quite honestly, this has been a very difficult and challenging project for me. I've had to spend much of my personal money to care for the dairy cats, including renovating the barn where some of them still reside. I've been asked by others...and have asked myself... whether I could have helped a greater number of more ‘adoptable’ cats instead of expending so much time and resources on the 27 dairy cats.

“The answer to that, of course, is ‘yes.’ Like most rescuers, I have struggled to set priorities when life and decisions are made about which animals to help. However, in this case I really felt that there was no choice about trying to save some of them. The cats I encountered at this farm were sick, suffering, and had been mistreated. It was impossible to walk away, and I felt a moral obligation to help as many as I could.

(Macaroni is so adventurous, she was initially called Marco Polo)

In spite of that, I don't think I would have undertaken this project without the support of other rescue volunteers and from Best Friends, which provided advice, moral support, and a grant to help with veterinarian expenses. Also, PeachState Pet Partners accepted these cats into the group's adoption program, and of course that has been a critical component. This simply hasn't been a one-person project, and I am very grateful to Best Friends and others for their invaluable assistance with this effort.

“My greatest concern at this point is for the cats that are still at the farm, and for the approximately one dozen cats I am fostering who have not yet found homes. They are all wonderful, with distinctive personalities and terrific personalities. However, several will always have chronic health condition, such as tearing eyes, and others are still skittish around people and not the type of ‘lap cats’ that potential adopters tend to want. My prayers are that there are people out there with huge hearts who will want to open their homes to these lovely cats who have suffered so much and who now deserve to be safe and loved for the rest of their lives.”

What is the Big Lesson out there?
“When I encountered so many suffering cats at this farm, I had no plan for how I could care for the 25 cats that I removed from the farm. I had no place to put them and did not have the financial resources to provide for their vet and housing expenses. Taking so many of the cats and kittens with me seemed like a rash and slightly insane decision at the time, but I just determined that one way or another, things would work out.

“Thanks to the support of so many, including Best Friends, PeachState Pet Partners, and Alpharetta Animal Hospital, I was indeed able to handle the situation. I suppose the lesson is that when encountering animals in need, sometimes you just need to take a deep breath and do the right thing by them, trusting that things will work out one way or another.”

What would I tell the community about community cats
“In my view, there are no animals more deserving of our help than community or feral cats. For some reason, most people seem to accept the fact that there are an overwhelming number of starving and homeless cats in their communities and that they are a ‘fact of life.’ The real fact is that these cats desperately need our help, including food and basic vet care. There are a number of great resources out there to assist people who want learn how to help these ‘community’ or feral cats, and I urge people not to look the other way when they encountered these cats who so very much need our help.”


(Elizabeth is starting to overcome her fear of people and now craves attention)

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

► Deborah suggests that people interested in the remaining cats contact her at dsmithcallahan@gmail.com.

► Photos and descriptions of most of these cats, including the adoptable felines pictured above, can be found at www.pspp.petfinder.com.

For more information:
• Best Friends Feral Cat Program Campaign
• Feral Cat Resources

Photos provided courtesy of Deborah Smith-Callahan
Lead image, the Rogers family of Decatur, Georgia first adopted Snowflake (pictured above) and later his brother, Snowball
Posted by Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends staff

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