The Foundation For Homeless Cats

In loving memory of Bertha

I am sad to report we lost Bertha this on November 19 2010. I met Bertha about 6 years ago as I was on my usual route of feeding my managed colonies. Suddenly, on the dark street was this little gray cat near the side of the road flagging me down. I stopped and with a delicate Meow, she asked me to feed her. How did she know I was a cat woman?

I opened a can for her and she devoured the liver and chicken. I came back the next day and the next day and of course continue to this day.

Bertha lived at a steel manufacturing plant in North Phoenix along with 9, now only 8, other cats. This is a 100% sterilized colony. No kittens have been born there in 5 years.

Bertha proved to be a formidable opponent and it took me numerous attempts to humanely trap her for spay surgery, only to find out she had already been fixed. She must have been abandoned. Perhaps she had a loving home at some point.

I just happened to drive by there Friday on my way home from work and found my dear Bertha lying motionless. I scooped her up and took her to down the street to my friend’s business. He is a cat person too. She was still alive, but barely. It was a sad joy to stroke her and tell her she was loved before she passed over the rainbow bridge. There was not time to get her to a hospital.

She was not my cat; she was not your cat. That is what people often say about these free roaming/feral cats. But I was her guardian and I and the other cats miss her greatly.

This is why we do Trap Neuter Return. We want to keep free roaming/feral  cats out of municipal shelters, where they are almost always killed, and to prevent additional births. Maybe one day there will be no Berthas, abandoned and homeless.

“I know I cannot save every cat, but if I can spay or neuter every cat I meet and educate others to do the same, then I know I am saving 1000’s.”

Our own founder, Carla Jewell, received the Puffer Award on October 14 2010

Not only did Carla receive the Puffer Award, but she was awarded the 2010 Puffer Person of the Year Award! The Puffer Award honors volunteers who have worked tirelessly to keep free-roaming, abandoned, and/or feral cats out of shelters in Maricopa County. The number one cause of death of cats in Maricopa County and the United States is euthanasia in municipal shelters. In fact 72% of all cats coming into shelters are euthanized, only 23% are adopted, and just 2% are reunited with their owners. 100% of feral cats are killed, as they are deemed unadoptable. Carla, as Director of The Foundation For Homeless Cats, has saved over 500 cats from entering the municipal shelter in 2010.

Some achievements:

• Assisting disabled and low-income caregivers with spay/neuter of community cats

• Working with local municipalities, such as Mesa, Scottsdale, Peoria and Glendale to implement Trap Neuter Return (TNR) programs for their communities

• Hosting workshops for the Phoenix Police Department about the link between animal cruelty and domestic violence, elder abuse, child abuse and violent crime

• Offering TNR presentations for HOA’s and community neighborhood associations

We are so proud of Carla winning the award and we think she is the Cat’s MEOW!

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