The COPE website is in the process of being updated; however, it is still running. Go to www.copecats.org or email ljd@cbcast.com for more information about COPE and our missions.
Pets for Public Viewing: Adoptable cats and kittens are at the Adoption Centers at Petsmart in Joliet, across from Westfield Mall and Petco located on Route 59 in Shorewood.
Cat Overpopulation Planned Endeavor (COPE) is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of stray and feral cats through sterilization and education. COPE would like to see a day when no more cats are living homeless and forgotten on the streets. Until that day arrives, however, we are dedicated to spaying and neutering as many cats as we can, while providing care for colonies of feral cats and removing non-feral strays from the streets and placing them into our adoption program after they receive proper medical attention. We also help find homes for pets who, for many reasons, find themselves homeless when their owners are unable to care for them any longer. These pets are also placed into our adoption program.
It would be wonderful if all cats lived in households where the people loved them and cared for them their entire lives... unfortunately, however, this is not the case. Many people, for many different reasons, make the choice of abandoning their cats. These cats are often left to fend for themselves and their offspring in the outside world. Some of these cats revert to their feral, or wild, instincts. They teach their kittens to be wary of humans. They form colonies around food sources such as garbage dumsters, and spend the majority of their time mating, fighting, and scrounging for food.
Option #1: Ignore the cats.
Outcome: The cats will continue to fight, roam, and reproduce.
Option #2: Trap and kill the cats.
Outcome: New cats will move into the area and utilize the food source to which the original cats were attracted. They will begin the breeding process all over again.
Option #3: Implement a Trap Neuter Return (TNR) program.
Outcome: TNR to caretaker method of population control: The cats are humanely trapped and spayed or neutered any adoptable kittens and cats are placed in our adoption program. Once a cat has become truly feral, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to "retrain" the cat to be a companion house pets. Any wild or feral adult cats are returned to their colony which is under the supervision of a caretaker. No new cats will move into the area and no new kittens will be born. The cats will live out the rest of their lives under the watchful eye of a caretaker, who provides food, water, and shelter.
