I contacted some of the Feral Organizations around the world. They are becoming hard to find due to the economy. However, if they are on the web, I've contacted them. I asked several questions. One interview is here in entirety.
1) How long has KFCF been around? KFCF/FFFET has been around since 2000.
2) How many cats or colonies do you care for annually? Our core group manages 20-30 colonies. It’s hard to say how many cats there are in those colonies. There are many other colonies out there that no one is taking care of. The feral cat population is probably higher than anyone would ever think. However, in 2008 we spayed/neutered close to 700 cats.
3) How many members do you have? There are probably around 15 core volunteers. However, all volunteers are welcome to be involved as little or as much as they’d like, so there are a number of people who help out here and there who may not be within that core group. Any contribution of time and/or money, great or small, is welcome and appreciated.
4) What services do you provide? Our main focus is Trap-Neuter-Return, and our goal is to educate all people about this humane method of population control. Our ultimate goal is to see a day when no cats die in shelters simply because there aren’t enough homes for them all. When people ask us for assistance we want to empower them to make a difference on their own rather than relying on our small group of volunteers to do all the work. So generally our role would be to loan out traps and give instruction and advice on using them and on managing a feral cat colony. The person requesting assistance would be responsible for doing the trapping and transporting to and from the clinic for spay and neuter. The property owners must also agree to take the cats back onto their property after they’ve been spayed and neutered. We also ask for a commitment from someone to feed and water the cats regularly and provide some sort of shelter.
5) You practice TNR. Is this service provided free of charge, or are the costs defrayed by donations? We do not perform the spays, neuters or vaccinations, but we do have good working relationships with a few of the low-cost clinics in the area. We pay as much as we can toward the cost of spay and neuter for those who qualify for assistance, depending on the availability of funds and the number of cats to be spayed or neutered. We certainly welcome any donations. All feral cats that are spayed or neutered also receive rabies and upper respiratory disease vaccinations.
6) Do you foster or take-in cats for placement? Some members do foster cats, but there are very few who do. It is up to each individual’s discretion as to whether they want to foster and how many they can foster. Normally they are fostering kittens that are born into feral cat colonies they are personally managing, or tame cats who are dumped at colony locations. In general, we do not take in cats from the public. The adoptable cats that are being fostered can be seen at www.petfinder.com, or at our adoption center at the PetsMart in Turkey Creek.
7) How can someone contact you? The best and fastest way to contact us is via e-mail at KFCF Mail. Our mailing address is PO Box 32121, Knoxville TN, 37930-2121. You can also leave a message at (865) 406-6980. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at Mr. Gatti’s in Bearden.
8) How can someone donate to your organization? Donations can be sent to the mailing address listed above, or via PayPal on the internet. You can link to PayPal via our website at Knoxville Feral Cat Friends. Donations are tax-deductible and will be acknowledged in writing.
9) Is there anything I have not asked that you would like my readers to know about your organization? Our group is an all-volunteer organization, meaning we have no employees and no regular business hours. We will do as much as we can when we are approached for help, but we ask that you be willing to share the responsibility. Our focus is not on removing cats where they are unwanted, or taking in cats that need homes. We need people to learn about TNR and spread the word to others. As I mentioned, our ultimate goal is to prevent any cat from dying in animal shelters as a result of too many animals and not enough homes. It is so important for every pet owner to spay or neuter their animals. Many feral cats are descended from unaltered pet cats who have gotten lost or have been abandoned by their owner. Since a pair of cats can produce 420,000 offspring in a matter of just a few years, the first line of defense against shelter deaths is to spay and neuter, which will prevent the birth of these animals that will not have homes.
