Saving/managing new feral colony

Way to go!  What an impression you must have made on everyone.  I pray you can get them all.

Where I live, feral cats are not "owned" although their caregivers are expected to get them needed vet care, shots and such.  It's a grey area, which I suspect is a reason that many times, there are so many misunderstandings about them.

It is a difficult grey area. If I 'own' them then I am legally responsible for them. Obviously I cannot do anything about them. But what if one attacked someone? Or caused a traffic accident? We have to have an 'owner' to put on the chip registration. And the mayor is adamant that the Commune cannot be the registered owner., although a new law here says that all Communes are responsible for dealing with t he feral cat problem, either by sterilising or PTS. We are trying to find out what other communes are doing, though the only one I know about is killing the cats. Sometimes French bureaucracy does not know what it is stirring up.

I caught another cat tonight! Another black one, not sure yet if it is male or female. So in the morning I shall have two in the car, go through the village and let the first one go free, then on to the vet with the second. The first one seems fully recovered, is eating and drinking and even using the litter box well, though he does have rather runny poop. But I hope that is just from the change of food and maybe a bit of stress.

Woo hoo!  Keep this up and the entire colony will be done in no time!  I say a small prayer for you every night, that all this work will help convince people of the validity of your plan.

Fantastic progress.  This has to help people see what can be achieved and hopefully get more people supporting what you are doing.  I hope all the cats prove this simple to catch and their recoveries as fast, at least for the males. 

The second one is now at the vet, and I released the first on t he way there. He was not that keen to leave the cage when I opened the door - maybe he liked the hotel! This afternoon I am going to collect the leaflets that I wrote and the mayor has printed for me on what we are doing and why, and I will distribute them around the village.

Hope all goes well with the leafleting and people can see positive outcomes from what you are doing.  Interesting your angry black male seemed reluctant to return to his patch dedspite the traumatic experiences he has just been through.

Keep up the good work, you are doing an amazing job here.

I had a really positive afternoon in the village, and met some really nice people (and cats) who were new to me. Almost everyone was enthusiastic about the project, though no-one offered to help financially! But I have been told that there is a deserted barn that is home to at least 8 cats and a fox! So I will have to look into that.

JennyR said:

. I am now armed with a highly bureaucratic document with impressive stamps on it that gives me permission from the State of France to capture, neuter and identify stray and feral cats. Just in case anyone tries to object.
 

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Wow!  So you do have a Letter of Marque "lettre de course" for real!

I still do think you could talk with this priest, even if he has several village churches to serve.   A couple of good sermons here, a nodding in the right place there, is much won.

StefanZ said:

Wow!  So you do have a Letter of Marque "lettre de course" for real!



I still do think you could talk with this priest, even if he has several village churches to serve.   A couple of good sermons here, a nodding in the right place there, is much won.

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Yes, I suppose it is sort of 'Lettre de marque' - I hadn't thought of it like that! As for the priest, I don't know him, never going to church myself, and I doubt if any French priest would take kindly to me telling him what his sermons should be about. I don't think even Mme le Maire would dare do that.

StefanZ said:

Wow!  So you do have a Letter of Marque "lettre de course" for real!



I still do think you could talk with this priest, even if he has several village churches to serve.   A couple of good sermons here, a nodding in the right place there, is much won.

Click to expand...

Yes, I guess it is a sort of lettre de marque, though I didn't think of it like that. As for the priest, I don't go to church so I don't know him, and I doubt if any French priest would take kindly to being told what his sermons should be about. I don't think even Mme le Maire would dare to do that!

StefanZ said:

JennyR said:

. I am now armed with a highly bureaucratic document with impressive stamps on it that gives me permission from the State of France to capture, neuter and identify stray and feral cats. Just in case anyone tries to object.

 

Click to expand...

Wow!  So you do have a Letter of Marque "lettre de course" for real!

I still do think you could talk with this priest, even if he has several village churches to serve.   A couple of good sermons here, a nodding in the right place there, is much won.

Click to expand...

YES - I wanted to quote this one out too. EXCELLENT, Jenny. I am so happy to have checked in here to see you have had success with trapping. You are on a mission now with a document of approval to show. GOOD FOR YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, for those kitties !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thank you for all you are doing.

It poured with rain last night so I didn't set the traps. But I have to pick up the second black cat today and bring him home for his 48 hours recuperation. The weather seems better today so I will set the traps this evening. I don't know what to do about one cat I met yesterday. A very pretty and curious blue tortie who was on the raised terrace of a house I visited. I congratulated her on her cat and she said it was not hers but abandoned by the previous owner, and she kept hanging round. She has not had kittens this year, so may be spayed. The house owner said she feeds her occasionally but really doesn't want her and can't pick her up. Poor baby - she seemed friendly but very scared.
I CANNOT add her to my brood - it would be too much, and she obviously just wants 'her' family back. A very difficult one. I hate people sometimes.

JennyR said:

I CANNOT add her to my brood - it would be too much, and she obviously just wants 'her' family back. A very difficult one. I hate people sometimes.

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It is SO very hard, is it not??!!!! We can't save them all, even though our heart wants to so badly. This poor little tortie. I just wanted to quote this out because I, too, hate people at times. BUT, then there are people like us here who do our best to help the ones that those awful, heartless people abandon. What a world.

Caught a third one, thanks to the help of a lady in the village. She called me yesterday to say there was a large tom hanging round in her garden so I took a trap down last night. Apparently it failed to work, and he ate the food and got out. She rebaited it with some dried ham (lucky cat!) and this time it worked. So he will be going to the vet this afternoon.

Excellent!

Wow, you're doing really well. 3 cats in a week, that's fast work.

I found a new one this morning - a large tabby who ran away as I was moving a trap. I know now where he is living and I am leaving the trap there, open, for a day or two. I don't want to catch any more yet, as I still have the female who was fixed on Monday and the male I took in today. I don't have enough space at the house till I can release those two! But it is going well.

Good work! Hopefully, all our TCS vibes are helping.

You are making great progress, and it sounds like you have got some local support now too (feeding dried ham LoL).  Hope your little female heals nicely and you are able to let her out soon so you can move on with the plan.