Cat Rescue

Published in the Delaware Cape Gazette

Volunteers Open Hearts and Homes to Area Felines

by Karen M. Jones

The basement of the Rehoboth Beach house is dim but alive with flying fur. Two kittens bathe themselves on a ledge at eye-level, while several more amuse themselves with their own shadows or tails. A calico and a tortoiseshell pair snooze under a small window. A tiny gray-striped tabby presses his damp nose, purring like a muffler, against the face of a human visitor, while two black dynamos, brothers, tear after each other, clinch in a momentary death grip, then race across the room to dive under a shelf. In the midst of feline chaos, Bob H. talks about his foster caretaking duties with Zen-like calm.

"That one and that one are from the same litter. He's real sweet. They were brought in when their mother got hit by a car, and they were so young, I had to hand-feed them for awhile." He points to a pair of perhaps 10-week-old, ragged creatures in their own cage, one huddled unresponsively in a corner, the other nursing an injured eye. "These two just came in. They're in bad shape, really wild. I'll have to handle them with a glove for awhile, but they should be fine in about two weeks."

In those two weeks, Bob, a kitten rescuer and foster caretaker for the nonprofit Historic Lewes Cat Society, will bathe them, take them to the vet for exams, shots and de-worming, treat them for fleas and infection, feed and clean up after them, and then find them suitable homes. Like the other six foster caretakers working on behalf of the

society, he receives no financial compensation for his efforts other than a small portion of donated funds. It is, as

another caretaker says, "a labor of love."

That labor has resulted in more than 200 area kittens being trapped, vetted, and spayed or neutered in the past year alone. Started just two years ago, the Historic Lewes Cat Society provides a humane alternative to businesses that trap cats for profit and then do little, if anything, to improve their lot. Often they are needlessly destroyed. "People don't understand that these aren't just wild animals," explains society co-founder Vivian Barry. "Usually they have been abandoned. They can grow up to be very loving companions. But if left to fend for themselves, their life

expectancy is just three to five years."

The society has taken on a sizable challenge. According to the Humane Society of the United States, female cats that aren't spayed can have two or three litters of kittens per year. In seven years, one cat and her young can

produce 420,000 kittens. More than 4 million dogs and cats have to be humanely destroyed each year for lack of good homes.

Composed of five board members and a small group of volunteer rescuers and foster caretakers, the Historic Lewes Cat Society works with several local veterinarians and Kent County's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Calls from area residents who have homeless cats on their property come either directly from citizens or sometimes through the SPCA. Society members then work with the caller to arrange trapping - putting food in a

special box that closes behind the hungry animal - and subsequent veterinary care. Callers who are willing to help with the trapping process, contribute to the cost of veterinary exams or even adopt the animal once it's cared for are especially prized.

None of this comes cheaply, of course. The society asks callers to pitch in toward vet visits, but otherwise pays for them at $30 to $50 per cat. Foster caretakers pay for food, litter, toys, supplies and over-the-counter flea treatments out of their own pockets. "We have some sponsors that send money," Vivian says. "We rely on them and our

adopting families, on our donation cans around town, and on our fundraisers." One such event is a dinner December 2 at the Rose & Crown in Lewes. Patrons who call to make advance reservations between 4 and 8 p.m. and ask to participate in the fundraiser will have 50 percent of their check donated to the society. Contributions are tax-deductible.

Adoptions are becoming more efficient, thanks to the society's relationship with Concord Pet Supply in Rehoboth Beach. Adoption "clinics" are held two Saturdays a month, with available kittens and cats brought in to the store. Concord gives those who adopt free food and a 10 percent discount off certain supplies. The society helps pet

owners further by providing rabies vaccines at a discount twice a year. Cats that aren't adopted are taken to farms to serve as "mousers."

It's bittersweet that the direct beneficiaries of all this effort can't say "thank you." Fostering the animals takes

commitment, patience and a big heart, preferably a resilient one. One mother cat and her five kittens were found tossed into a dumpster. Another helpless litter was found in a box abandoned by the side of the highway. "I got

involved after a visit to the SPCA to look at kittens," Bob says. "I mistakenly wandered into the euthanasia room, and there was a soaking wet kitten lying motionless in a box. I thought it was a rat. It had been washed down a sewer and they were going to put it to sleep. I said, 'Let me take it and see what I can do.' I took it to the vet - it had hundreds of fleas - and then took it home, and eventually I gave it to a neighbor. Now, one-and-a-half years later, it's a gorgeous, big cat. That's what's gratifying - people who've adopted the kittens send me pictures months later of a grown cat sitting on a pretty sofa. I keep a scrapbook."

For another foster caretaker, the biggest challenge is responding to all the callers who want a trapper. "If I had the resources," she says, "I'd scoop up every cat I could."

"We have seven foster caretakers in Lewes, Rehoboth and Dewey right now, but we need 20 more," says Vivian Barry. "Eventually, we hope to raise enough money to establish a refuge, so people won't have to house the animals in their own homes."

Fleas, food droppers and limited funds. It seems a largely thankless job. So why do it? "I love animals, " Vivian says. "They've been very good to me, providing unconditional love."

Bob says, "I have three cats of my own, so I can't keep the kittens I rescue. But if I can keep them alive, that's what I want to do."