Are you Metro West? The wonderful folks at SPIN (Save our Pets in Need) help us by taking our rescued cats and kittens for adoption in their very high visibility space in Pet World, Route 9 Eastbound, in Natick, across from Shopper's World. Please ask for HubCats cats and kittens and create demand (!!) - or just adopt any old kitty there.
March 9, 2008 - the Mass Animal Coalition is offering their annual Whole Cat Conference: The Answer to Cat Overpopulation, to bring together people like YOU - interested in cat welfare here in our own state - and the folks who have a plan of action, for reducing MA shelter euthanasias of disowned, lost/stray and feral cats. Come, listen, enjoy being surrounded by people who love cats, and see if you want to bring your skills, energy and get more involved! We need you, and the cats need you!
September 2006 - we'll be flying off in a few days to the 2006 Feral Cat Summit, in San Francisco! We'll be showing our drop trap to the assembled throngs of eager feral cat advocates. Every one of these events is bigger and better than the last, thanks to the efforts of Neighborhood Cats.
August 2006 - the already wildly popular STOP Clinic is offering low-cost spay/neuter (for low and moderate income folks, please) all around the Boston area. Owned and staffed by a veterinarian, it's a van fitted out to do spay/neuter surgeries, for CATS only! Spays are around $60, neuters are a little less. Check her site for prices and scheduled locations.
In other news, HubCats and friends have now trapped and spay/neutered over TWO THOUSAND felines, since we first picked up a trap in August 2001. In addition, we have built and sold NINETY of our Fold-O-Matic drop traps, all across the country.
July 2006 - MSPCA-Boston has opened their beautiful new shelter on South Huntington, in Jamaica Plain. See MSPCA.org for hours and directions. While their old facility made us think of the gym showers at our old high school, they now have sunny, bright and cage free space - the cats love it! They've already seen a boost to their adoptions. At the same time, owner surrenders and stray intake are still at very high levels. Please consider adopting an experienced kitty (or two!). Bring more grace, beauty and love into your home.
June 2006 - HubCats has won two major grants for spay/neuter in Boston!
The Mass Animal Coalition's Animal Friendly License Plate has again graced us with their generous support. Please BUY this license plate and spread the word that early and ubiquitous spay/neuter is the solution to the continued shameful destruction of so many wonderful, affectionate, trusting - but surplus - cats in our state. The second grant, from PetSmart Charities, is for trap-neuter-release (TNR) of feral cats. This time of year, the many feral kittens brought to their doors start to overwhelm the resources of shelters - so spay/neuter of feral cats helps the shelters keep up.
Both grants cover surgery costs only, and while they enable us to help more cats and pet owners, we need your donations more than ever to pay the rest of the bill!
12/18/05 - Brrrr! it's COLD! We've been going flat out since February, but there's no pause in the action: Cats and kittens living in a car in Roxbury, kittens - young kittens - at the feeding station in East Boston. A family of young cats at a business in Dorchester, living in an open basement across the street. A momcat and kittens, one of which is sick, living on the margins of a business in Jamaica Plain. A new friendly cat, apparently abandoned, has shown up at the feeding station in South Boston, looking for love. A little 3-legged kitten who wants to make friends with the man who faithfully feeds her and her siblings - she'd have a tough time in the snow. We're still trapping and hauling cats to the free TNR spay/neuter clinics, in November we went to the clinic in Amherst with 10 cats, last Sunday it was in Brockton at the MSPCA, there. The clinics are terribly overbooked this time of year - too many calls, too many cats, and too few veterinarians!
5/2/05 - HubCats is one of 21 happy recipients of a Mass Animal Coalition Animal-Friendly License Plate GRANT! Our grant will be used to support TNR and rescue in Boston. If you want to end pet-euthanasia in Massachusetts, this is a great way to support a range of programs working to that end, and keeps the issue highly visible! For more information, including how to order...
5/24/05 - HubCats has trapped and neutered over 1400 stray and feral cats, largely in Boston, since we first picked up a trap in August, 2001, and we are the only Boston-focused humane organization (including those really BIG ones!) working to humanely reduce our feral cat population.
HubCats needs your help in various ways:
...If you, or someone you know (or someone you don't know), is feeding outdoor cats, or if you've regularly seen a pregnant stray or kittens, or a number of stray cats, call this number: 978-462-0760 x4 (Merrimac River Feline Rescue Society) to locate assistance in neutering, and vaccinating the cats (against rabies and distemper). If you notice that their left ears have been "tipped" (clipped flat across) that's the universal sign that they've already been neutered and vaccinated!
Setting up a managed colony: THIS IS THE ONLY PROVEN HUMANE AND EFFECTIVE METHOD TO REDUCE FERAL CAT POPULATIONS -- REMOVE-AND-KILL ONLY "WORKS" IN THE SHORT TERM.
One of our pursuits is to improve the lot of cats that must live outdoors, by setting up a regular feeding program if there's none in place, neutering, and vaccinating all of the cats, and placing those that can be placed, in homes. We also improve the available shelter, if possible. Once this is done, daily feeders keep an eye on the (now) stabilized population, and alert us to injuries and new faces. Fighting, spreading of feline diseases, and smelly spraying are eliminated once the males are neutered. The cats' overall condition generally improves, and no more kittens die horrible deaths from cold, disease, or parasites. The people who were once hostile and angry about the cats, go back to yelling at the TV!
WE NEED RELIABLE, CAT-LOVING FEEDERS TO MAKE THIS WORK!!!
...CASTLE ISLAND, SO BOSTON *New* we need feeders, trappers and information about the cats on Castle Island -- how many are there, where are they? Please email if you've seen them on your walk/run through this great park!
...BRIGHTON/ALLSTON (Center) We need feeders ON THE WEEKENDS for one location in central Brighton, and WEEKDAY MORNINGS at a location in Allston. Do you live in the area? Do you have 20 minutes in the mornings (preferred) to feed some hungry cats? There is a great group of folks feeding and trapping in several locations in Brighton/Watertown/Waltham. They're the newly named Charles River Feline Rescue! Request more information about this feeding program.
...DORCHESTER (Blue Hill Ave, near Franklin Park) I would be grateful for any assistance, a day or two a week, feeding this colony, living in a tow lot. They are all neutered (knock wood). Request more information about this feeding program.
...EAST BOSTON: several locations around Maverick Square. We need reinforcements for the faithful few who care for the many stray cats in East Boston. Are you in the area regularly? Do you have half an hour in the morning to help some hungry cats? Food can be provided. Request more information about this feeding program.
...UMASS/HARBOR POINT peninsula: We need people who live, work, or regularly drive through this area to participate in a FEEDING program for strays and feral cats on the peninsula. We are trapping and neutering these cats and hope to place as many friendly cats (dumped there), and kittens as possible. It takes 20 minutes, one or two days a week, MORNINGS ONLY (don't want to cause a population explosion among the skunks and raccoons!). Food can be provided, if necessary. Request more information about this feeding program.
To help feral cats that are trapped, neutered and returned outdoors (and to stop the yearly avalanche of sick and dying kittens born outside), use the button below - thanks!
