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Helping Neighborhood Cats!
Southwest Florida is a hotbed of cat overpopulation. Our year round balmy temperatures mean that kitten season never ends here and there are thousands of cats roaming free in the City of Bonita Springs. Couple that with a mix of people from other cultures where spay/neuter is not a priority or even considered, and you are on your way to endless litters of cats. To their credit, the City of Bonita Springs in partnership with Lee Co FL Domestic Animal Services began in FREE spay/neuter program so that residents could fix the cats at zero cost to them.
The problem was...
that no one was doing it so TNR was happening but in a haphazard and low volume way. Community Cats of Bonita Springs founders, Angela Gipson and Jasmine Rivera, decided to team up with a multi-pronged approach - bilingual community outreach and education so that people could know about and use the program, assist people hands on who needed help getting their neighborhood cats fixed (mainly elderly and non-English speaking), assemble a team of volunteers to feed cats in managed colonies and monitor so that newcomers could be easily identified and fixed in a timely way, and raise funds to pay for medication and vetting for cats who were sick or injured and also assist volunteer and residents with cat food. In barely over 2 years, a handful of volunteers have fixed over 650 cats!
In barely over 2 years, a handful of volunteers have fixed over 650 cats!
All told, with other the help of other residents, over 1100 cats in the city of Bonita Springs have been fixed and returned to their colonies. Community Cats of Bonita Springs helps by coordinating appointments to the vet for spay/neuter and needed care, setting and monitoring traps, transporting cats to and from the vet, provide care before and after surgery, and providing care for sick colony cats and then releasing them back to their colonies when healed, They also find homes for friendly street cats and kittens whenever possible by partnering with local rescues and shelters. All of this work takes money, as well as time, effort and a huge commitment.
Final thoughts
If you live in Bonita Springs Florida and would like to help, you can reach us at [email protected]. If you would like to donate to help with expenses, please use the DONATE BUTTON on this website. You can also find and follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
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