Hello everyone.
My name is Michael and I live in Iowa. I've loved cats since I was a little boy. My father was never very excited about them and so we only had one or two here and there, unless one of them got pregnant.
As an adult, out on my own, I finally had a chance to have my own cats. First I took my family cat Max, and later adopted Bob from my sister. After that came Mureas. For quite a while that was all that I had. Eventually Max fell ill and died though. It was a pretty bad Thanksgiving day.... Perhaps a year or two later my girlfriend and I found a feral female wandering around our neighborhood. She looked Siamese and was very friendly. She had two adorable kittens with her which we instantly were in love with. We were hesitant to take them in, but the mother left them in our yard for several days without returning. So we took them in and the male was named Sargeant, and the female Elora.
That left us with 4 cats, and we did not think we'd ever end up expanding beyond that. We simply had no idea how many beautiful feral cats were wandering our area though. Eventually the mother cat returned, very pregnant and in need of care. So we took her in, and she had 5 more children. Those all turned out really well and we adopted out 3 of them to friends.
After that we had 7 cats and were starting to feel the pressure. We also had feral cats coming up to our door and following us around. It tugs at my heart strings to see them starving and unwanted. It hurts me to see them laying dead by the road nearby(a 45mph zone that people fly through at 60-70 on a regular basis). So after refusing them entry for months and months, we finally ended up taking in another feral mother and babies when we nearly ran them over one night on that same road. The father cat also showed up not long before that near death and in need of help. So we had him too.
So as you can see, my love of cats has gotten us into quite a bad situation. We don't socialize all that much because of bad experiences we've had with some people in the past, and that's made it hard to find homes for these cats. Worse yet, we cannot afford to spay or neuter any of these cats due to losing our jobs. I feel kinda trapped by my love of cats sometimes.... The local "Humane" society will kill these cats if I take them there. I'm very familiar with the place and I know for a fact that "colony" cats get death every time, and no attempt is made to place them. All the no kill shelters in the area are totally broke and can't help. We've had to turn away a lot of cats as it is. That's very hard since we see so many really beautiful animals around here just starving to death. The change from the old garbage cans to the new, more secure ones, has also killed a lot of domestic strays for lack of food. Our society denies even the scraps from our tables to these creatures.
I'm not writing this to give you a sob story, but rather to illustrate how I reached the conclusion I have. I've come to see that the problem of feral cats is huge beyond belief. It's more than we can ever even scratch the surface of. It's pathetic that in an area with so much, domestic strays are given so little thought or funding. So what these animals really need isn't cash donations, and it isn't volunteers(though both of those things are commendable). What they really need is a sustainable solution, so that funds can continually be raised for their care and for educating the public about their plight.
To that end, I am interested in starting a company, and indeed a movement, for the purpose of raising sustainable funding for animals in need. I have a lot of experience in the scrap metal and recycling field, and have come to realize that is where the solution lies. So many things which are perceived as garbage to the average American are in fact usable and salable materials. The main problem is they need to be broken down into separate collections. The copper, iron, rubber, plastic, aluminum, glass, etc. all need to be separated and gathered in enough bulk. In sufficient quantities, these materials change from being garbage to being worth money. A lot of these things are not worth breaking down if a company has to pay for them though. Oddly, this is exactly what makes them so perfect for use in helping animals. Many of these materials have to be thrown in the trash because, without huge quantities, no recycling company will pay for them. The companies also generally consider the labor to be too much to suit their desired profit margins.
So if we can figure out how to get our business going, and get pet rescue groups, and pet lovers in general to participate, we can get donations of what is otherwise junk, and refine it into something that can be sold. Then a share of that income can be diverted to helping pay for no-kill operations, and related education. I'd also like to educate the public on the negatives of declawing.
Many items just laying in the ditch actually injure stray animals, and these same items are potentially things that can raise money to save them. Two benefits in one. It also means less junk going to landfills, and foreign materials becoming a local resource. There's so many positives to this idea, I think if I had any sort of money, it would already be saving animals and cleaning up the environment.
That's my situation, and my dream. I'm trying to make a website for all this. I'm also trying to find online communities like this one. Just reaching out to the world in hopes of some positive change. I'd like to make friends with some good people for a change too, but first and foremost I want to help the cats. I don't ask for much in life anymore, but this is one thing that is very dear to me. There's a lot more to me, and this idea than one post can cover easily. I suppose I will wait for some feedback before I post more of it. Thanks to those who read this far though.
My name is Michael and I live in Iowa. I've loved cats since I was a little boy. My father was never very excited about them and so we only had one or two here and there, unless one of them got pregnant.
As an adult, out on my own, I finally had a chance to have my own cats. First I took my family cat Max, and later adopted Bob from my sister. After that came Mureas. For quite a while that was all that I had. Eventually Max fell ill and died though. It was a pretty bad Thanksgiving day.... Perhaps a year or two later my girlfriend and I found a feral female wandering around our neighborhood. She looked Siamese and was very friendly. She had two adorable kittens with her which we instantly were in love with. We were hesitant to take them in, but the mother left them in our yard for several days without returning. So we took them in and the male was named Sargeant, and the female Elora.
That left us with 4 cats, and we did not think we'd ever end up expanding beyond that. We simply had no idea how many beautiful feral cats were wandering our area though. Eventually the mother cat returned, very pregnant and in need of care. So we took her in, and she had 5 more children. Those all turned out really well and we adopted out 3 of them to friends.
After that we had 7 cats and were starting to feel the pressure. We also had feral cats coming up to our door and following us around. It tugs at my heart strings to see them starving and unwanted. It hurts me to see them laying dead by the road nearby(a 45mph zone that people fly through at 60-70 on a regular basis). So after refusing them entry for months and months, we finally ended up taking in another feral mother and babies when we nearly ran them over one night on that same road. The father cat also showed up not long before that near death and in need of help. So we had him too.
So as you can see, my love of cats has gotten us into quite a bad situation. We don't socialize all that much because of bad experiences we've had with some people in the past, and that's made it hard to find homes for these cats. Worse yet, we cannot afford to spay or neuter any of these cats due to losing our jobs. I feel kinda trapped by my love of cats sometimes.... The local "Humane" society will kill these cats if I take them there. I'm very familiar with the place and I know for a fact that "colony" cats get death every time, and no attempt is made to place them. All the no kill shelters in the area are totally broke and can't help. We've had to turn away a lot of cats as it is. That's very hard since we see so many really beautiful animals around here just starving to death. The change from the old garbage cans to the new, more secure ones, has also killed a lot of domestic strays for lack of food. Our society denies even the scraps from our tables to these creatures.
I'm not writing this to give you a sob story, but rather to illustrate how I reached the conclusion I have. I've come to see that the problem of feral cats is huge beyond belief. It's more than we can ever even scratch the surface of. It's pathetic that in an area with so much, domestic strays are given so little thought or funding. So what these animals really need isn't cash donations, and it isn't volunteers(though both of those things are commendable). What they really need is a sustainable solution, so that funds can continually be raised for their care and for educating the public about their plight.
To that end, I am interested in starting a company, and indeed a movement, for the purpose of raising sustainable funding for animals in need. I have a lot of experience in the scrap metal and recycling field, and have come to realize that is where the solution lies. So many things which are perceived as garbage to the average American are in fact usable and salable materials. The main problem is they need to be broken down into separate collections. The copper, iron, rubber, plastic, aluminum, glass, etc. all need to be separated and gathered in enough bulk. In sufficient quantities, these materials change from being garbage to being worth money. A lot of these things are not worth breaking down if a company has to pay for them though. Oddly, this is exactly what makes them so perfect for use in helping animals. Many of these materials have to be thrown in the trash because, without huge quantities, no recycling company will pay for them. The companies also generally consider the labor to be too much to suit their desired profit margins.
So if we can figure out how to get our business going, and get pet rescue groups, and pet lovers in general to participate, we can get donations of what is otherwise junk, and refine it into something that can be sold. Then a share of that income can be diverted to helping pay for no-kill operations, and related education. I'd also like to educate the public on the negatives of declawing.
Many items just laying in the ditch actually injure stray animals, and these same items are potentially things that can raise money to save them. Two benefits in one. It also means less junk going to landfills, and foreign materials becoming a local resource. There's so many positives to this idea, I think if I had any sort of money, it would already be saving animals and cleaning up the environment.
That's my situation, and my dream. I'm trying to make a website for all this. I'm also trying to find online communities like this one. Just reaching out to the world in hopes of some positive change. I'd like to make friends with some good people for a change too, but first and foremost I want to help the cats. I don't ask for much in life anymore, but this is one thing that is very dear to me. There's a lot more to me, and this idea than one post can cover easily. I suppose I will wait for some feedback before I post more of it. Thanks to those who read this far though.
