Animal Welfare United States Project #51098

SAVECats: A MD No-Kill Community Cat Program

by Rude Ranch Animal Rescue

Project Report | Mar 11, 2022
March 2022 SAVECats Report

By Erik D. Andrulis | President and Executive Director

Welcome to our March 2022 Report!

We are entering out 4th year of funding of the SAVECats project and have now spayed or neutered over 4000 cats in Anne Arundel County alone. If we add in the adjoining counties, we have helped well over 10,000 feral and community cats. We are submitting for a 5th year of funding from the Maryland Department of Agriculture's Spay & Neuter grant program in April 2022 for funding start in 2023.

In the 4th quarter of 2021, from Oct 1 - Dec 31, and with being closed for the last two weeks of the year, we performed 224 surgeries, with 98 neuters and 126 spays. This puts us at approximately 1000 surgeries done for the year!

I'd like to share a message with you that I also share with out newsletter subscribers. I have attached this below. Enjoy.
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Every Spring, I find myself in my garden – weeding, dividing and trimming back flowers, putting down fresh mulch. With dozens of different varieties of hemerocallis, phlox, paeonia, echinacea, and rudbeckia, I have lost track of how many perennials I have planted or transplanted in my garden. Kneeling in the dirt, I hear the distant voice of Voltaire remind me: “One must cultivate one’s own garden.” Yes. One must. That is what I am here to do; that is what I have charged myself with. As you probably realize, it’s hard work maintaining one’s own garden. But it is so satisfying to see the rainbow of colors bloom in my yard from March until October—and know that it is one’s own hand that brings this about.

I also find myself on the front lines of kitten season every Spring. This is the time of year when we see the largest number of community cats in heat, pregnant, or with a litter of kittens at our spay/neuter clinic. It’s my job to get the word out about this issue; to reduce the number of abandoned, abused, and malnourished animals; to remind our clients and stakeholders that we are here to help provide spay/neuter services; to provide trap rentals and training in trap-neuter-return; to find adoptive and foster homes for socialized or socializable cats and kittens through our rescue partners; to educate municipalities about the need to control the pet population; to remind everyone that community cats have the right to live without fear of euthanasia in Anne Arundel county; to advocate for community cats for those rights everywhere.

I do not do this alone. It takes everyone to protect and save cats. Our head veterinarian, Dr. Sandra Andrulis, leads the way. Our SAVECats program manager, Niki Cochran, traps as many cats as possible and coordinates with rescues. Our hardworking clinic reception and staff provide necessary services and support. I work with our partner Robin Catlett at Anne Arundel County Animal Care and Control to address feral colonies in need of support. I work with the Rude Ranch Animal Rescue Board and staff to ensure proper funding, marketing, and resources are available. I work to support a dedicated set of volunteers whose life work is to help community cats and communities in need of help. And I work with you.

As with being able to see a beautiful kaleidoscope of flowers in my own garden, it is likewise amazing to see the gorgeous clowder of cats that grace our sanctuary and Spay Spa & Neuter Nook. Since inception, our SAVECats program has helped over 4000 community cats. Now in its 4^thyear, SAVECats has been a smashing success, thanks to you. Thank you for supporting us in word and in action, in the clinic or on the street, through your donation of money or time. With liberties from and respect to Voltaire, one must cultivate one’s own cats – where all cats that are unowned are, in fact, owned by me. And you.

Warmest paws,
Erik

Erik D. Andrulis, Ph.D.
President and Executive Director
Rude Ranch Animal Rescue

Spay Spa & Neuter Nook

SAVECats

443-607-6496
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United Way #9664
Combined Federal Campaign #45379
Maryland Charity Campaign #52-2312763

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Nov 10, 2021
November 2021 SAVECats Report

By Erik Andrulis | President and Executive Director

Aug 1, 2021
July 2021 SAVECats Report

By Erik Andrulis | President and Executive Director

Our SAVECats Continued program is off to a great start. From April 1 - June 30, 2021, we provided rabies vaccinations and medical support to 302 cats. Of those 302, we performed 281 spay/neuter surgeries, with 130 neuters and 151 spays. We opened our clinic up on Fridays to support the SAVECats project and been doing weekend clinics every other weekend as well. Initially these restrictions placed severe limitations on this program such as not being able to loan humane traps and other equipment. Our program manager Niki Cochran is doing an excellent job of promoting SAVECats and is working very closely with TNR volunteers, animal rescues, and AACACC to identify and target colonies of community cats.

We are at 494 animals spayed or neutered after 2 quarters of 2021 - and with the first quarter truncated by one month (we started on 2/1 rather than on 1/1), we are running approximately 100 animals behind our intended schedule. We will likely need to add an additional month at the end of the funding period to fulfill our goals. Also, we are still experiencing setbacks and delays due to COVID19 but these have diminished due to more individuals having been vaccinated. The Spay Spa & Neuter Nook is still operatong under social distancing guidelines that limit capacity. Likewise, our employees and potential clients are still reluctant to meet with each other due to concerns of COVID exposure.

We are working with communities to identify and schedule surgeries for areas of AA County that are producing the most kittens. We are adding additional surgery days on weekends to accommodate these surgeries. We are also working closely with AACACC to identify additional cat colonies and caregivers by tracking where "litters of kittens" come from. We are also working with AACACC to redirect calls for community cats that are potentially going to be surrendered to AACACC. We are also working with our rescue partners inside and outside of Anne Arundel to find homes for socialized and socializable kittens.

Currently, there are many factors that will affect meeting our objectives. One of the biggest factors will be if our veterinary clinic or our area of focus (Anne Arundel County) is shut down or quarantined. Likewise, many people are still fearful of COVID-19 exposure for themselves and their animals. Another factor that may affect our ability to meet our objectives by the end of the calendar year is the late start to the project. In light of these factors, we feel that we will achieve our overall objectives, but may have to extend our project by several weeks/months.

Please share our project on your social media pages - for the animals!

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