Well, here's the thing. My two boys will be attending a new school next year. This school is a lot about parents being involved, community stuff etc. I'm a member of I guess what you would call the PTA, and we had our first meeting tonight.
Now, this is a very new school, with lots of issues and of course, a limited budget. First thing I noticed when I got there the first time, and again tonight, was feral mother cat and two kittens (2-3 month old, I think). I won't be surprised to find out there are more ferals on the ground.
I brought the topic up for discussion and offered to lead a community effort to get the cats TNR'ed + medical care, then building them a feeding station + some shelter and making sure they are well taken care of. All as a school project, involving at least one POC with the staff, and hopefully some dedicated school kids.
Now, although I have been around feral cat people a lot, I can't say I ever took it upon me to manage a colony. I've done my share of trapping, and neutering and all that, but that was for specific cats that showed up in our backyard. One of them decided to stay and adopt us, and is given full care. The others moved on after they healed.
I will need to find a local sponsor, hopefully some cat food company, or even a local pet shop. I guess I need to survey the colony first, see how many cats we're talking about and then budget this.
So, any tips and ideas on where to begin are welcome.
Now, this is a very new school, with lots of issues and of course, a limited budget. First thing I noticed when I got there the first time, and again tonight, was feral mother cat and two kittens (2-3 month old, I think). I won't be surprised to find out there are more ferals on the ground.
I brought the topic up for discussion and offered to lead a community effort to get the cats TNR'ed + medical care, then building them a feeding station + some shelter and making sure they are well taken care of. All as a school project, involving at least one POC with the staff, and hopefully some dedicated school kids.
Now, although I have been around feral cat people a lot, I can't say I ever took it upon me to manage a colony. I've done my share of trapping, and neutering and all that, but that was for specific cats that showed up in our backyard. One of them decided to stay and adopt us, and is given full care. The others moved on after they healed.
I will need to find a local sponsor, hopefully some cat food company, or even a local pet shop. I guess I need to survey the colony first, see how many cats we're talking about and then budget this.
So, any tips and ideas on where to begin are welcome.