Thousands of Bay Area homeless cats owe a better quality of life to the East Bay’s Fix our Ferals (FOF). Since 1998, the nonprofit organization has been helping control the number of abandoned and feral cats throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties through its bimonthly high-volume spay/neuter clinics. With the help of local veterinarians who offer their services free of charge, aided by a team of UC Davis vet students and volunteer homeless cat advocates involved in trap, neuter and return (TNR) efforts, Fix Our Ferals estimates it has sterilized over 12,000 cats since the organization began 10 years ago.
Lining up with cats for a FOF clinic (courtesy of R. Sorenson)
Launch of FOF
When the Fix Our Ferals started, it was one of the few high volume clinics in California, according to founder Linda McCormick. “Vets came from as far as Sacramento and Santa Rosa to help, and we were doing as many as 175 to 210 cats a day,” she said. Today with other low-cost facilities in the area, most clinics average 130-150 cats.
In the early days, operating with startup funding from the city of Berkeley but without a permanent facility, Fix our Ferals took advantage of space provided by local clinics. Eventually, in 2002, the East Bay SPCA offered to let the organization hold its clinics on an ongoing basis in their Maddie’s Spay-Neuter Clinic in Oakland. Today all the clinics continue to be held there.
Cats in recovery after being fixed (courtesy of R. Sorenson)
Reservations open two weeks before each clinic (please call the FOF Hotline: 510-433-9446) so feral trappers can sign up to bring in cats, said McCormick. “Within just a couple of hours we’re booked. Caretakers try to trap the day before so that the cats don’t spend too much time in the humane traps before the clinic.
“In many ways, the clinics are as important to the volunteers and caretakers as they are to the cats,” said McCormick. It’s life saving work and everyone is extremely motivated.”
Winter Campaign Kicks Off
In 2005, Fix Our Ferals launched its Winter Campaign. It’s a neighborhood program serving Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont, Emeryville, El Cerrito and Richmond. The goal is to offer TNR services to individuals who are feeding stray cats -- possibly in their backyard – but who are not comfortable or able to trap on their own. If someone is inclined to trap, Fix Our Ferals will provide training and equipment.
Program volunteers take calls on a hotline and then coordinate assistance as volunteer trappers become available. Winter is a good time to go after these cats, explains Rebecca Marsh, Fix Our Ferals executive director, since mating season is generally over so there is less risk of trapping a mama cat whose babies still depend on her.
Trapped cats are brought to a Winter Campaign holding center. Fix Our Ferals has the cats sterilized, gives them a few days to recuperate and then returns them to the location where they were trapped. As more areas get their cat populations fixed and under control, Fix Our Ferals will continue to expand the areas served.
Fix Our Ferals is looking for volunteers to help with the Winter Campaign, including individuals who know how to trap or would like to learn, cat transporters and TLC caregivers to help care for the cats in the holding facility before and after their surgeries. If you live in the East Bay and are interested, call the organization at 510-908-8515 or email rebeccamarshfof@yahoo.com.
For more information: Fix Our Ferals
Comments
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Fix Our Ferals is doing great work. They helped us when our new home included a feral cat population living in the back yard. We tried to ignore the problem but quickly realized that the cats were multiplying like, well, cats! FOF taught us about trap/neuter/return, loaned us traps and provided spay/neuter and vaccination services at their clincs. They also provided referral vouchers to use at other clinics. Without Fix Our Ferals, we would have been overrun with stray animals and would likely have seen many die of injury, illness or malnutrition. Since we began trapping/neutering/returning, our feral population has stabilized and is much healthier. Now we only have to TNR at our house about once a year. Thanks to Fix Our Ferals for providing a much needed service to our community.
I completely agree with Dale. I've used the services of FOF for many years and am grateful that they exist. I've read a lot about the TNR process and how it helps to reduce the population of feral cats over time.
I visited the website listed above by "not a solution," and was appalled to read that they recommend wholesale euthanasia of perfeclty healthy cats. I was sickened by their matter-of-fact approach. Nowhere on the site does it mention the names of the people behind this site. When I sent an email, I received the following response: "This site is privately registered and therefore personal information is not disclosed. Folks here are involved in various environmental and animal-related projects." I was surprised by their unwillingness to come forward and stand behind their words - makes me uneasy about anything they say.
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