Hi I'm new here. I was wondering if anyone here helps the homeless cats and dogs in the city where they are at. My friend and I go down to Balto city to feed and rescue the strays in the alleys and neighborhoods, we go to some pretty rough areas, where many strays are out on the street. They need food and water and to be rescued when possible. It only takes a few hours a week and it means so much to them. There are so many homeless animals living on the streets in the cities that noone takes care of. This is a very worthy project which can be done by a few people and it means so much to the cats and dogs. They suffer greatly and yet very little attention seems to be shown to this situation.
I'd like to see more people get involved in the cities. Anybody here interested in this just let me know what you think and I can give you some tips on what to do. They do need your help! :angel:

For more info contact Christina : my email is earl1@mdonline.net

Awesome, it's such a great thing to do! I have never taken care of feral cats and dogs in the city, but around my area there used to be this abandoned, run down mental hospital (Lakeland.. it's actually been featured in Weird NJ :D) where a huge group of feral cats gathered. The buildings on the grounds have since been knocked down, but my boyfriend, I and our best friend used to go down there all the time and feed the kitties. Our friend has some kind of contract with the county where they grant her so much money a year for food and vet bills. We would always trap as many mommies and babies as we could to take them in to get them fixed so they'd stop reproducing.. which is better than letting the city go in and kill them for being pests :brood: But yeah.. it was always a lot of fun to go hang out with the kitties and then venture into the spooky old buildings at night. The one thing that sucked was that Lakeland was a big hangout spot for unruly teens lookin for parties and on more than a few occasions, we found some dead cats in some unfavorable conditions :spew: :no: We haven't seen our friend in a long time since she moved away, but last I head, the feral cat colony is dwindling due to all the demolition on the old buildings and from the attempts to relocate them to the other side of the field so they'd be safe :-/ On a lighter note, many of the kitties who were friendly enough to be socialized were adopted out to good homes.. many of the kitties were former pets who'd been abandoned so they often found homes in no time. It's been a bittersweet experience. We've really got to get back down there sometime... Chris, thanks for this neato thread :D

I take it cats from time to time, socialise them, and pass them on. I've just passed some now formerly-feral kittens onwards, I'm keeping the mother cat, and have some more youngsters due to be dropped off soon.

awww, good for you, Kiz! Those kitties are very lucky to have people like you. I want to be able to socialize and foster kitties and other animals some day, but until I have my own place (livin' at b/f's grandma's house and she's a "no-pets-allowed-that-aren't-caged" snob) that will be an impossibility.

Oh! That sounds so nice! I would love to do that, but there don't seem to be many strays around Asheville, but maybe I just havn't seen them.

Oh! That sounds so nice! I would love to do that, but there don't seem to be many strays around Asheville, but maybe I just havn't seen them.



The problem is mostly in the inner cities like Baltimore, DC , Detroit, Pittsburgh , Cincinattie, etc., there are always more being born , so many people are needed to get involved. I talked to one lady that works in downtown DC with the strays, and she said the same thing not enough people come down to help out. It's frustrating.

I don't live in or near a large city. Our city has lots of strays though, but no feral communities that I know of. Any stray dog I see I try catch and turn in to our humane society. Most of the stray cats are owned, so I don't catch or feed and of them. The only time I set food out is if I'm trying to catch a dog. The wild dogs are difficult to catch, and difficult to socialize, but our shelter has some great success stories of dogs they've rehabilitated after living out on their own for years.

I don't live in or near a large city. Our city has lots of strays though, but no feral communities that I know of. Any stray dog I see I try catch and turn in to our humane society. Most of the stray cats are owned, so I don't catch or feed and of them. The only time I set food out is if I'm trying to catch a dog. The wild dogs are difficult to catch, and difficult to socialize, but our shelter has some great success stories of dogs they've rehabilitated after living out on their own for years.

It's surprising how many frightened cats and dogs can be brought around, after living on the streets for years. It just takes much patience and love for them to become happy little ones.

The strays still need your help through the summer months and the cold winters, they are waiting. :angel:







:book: Http://furryfriendsrescue.bravehost.com/

I live in Pittsburgh, and I contacted our city's only no-kill shelter to volunteer. The person I spoke to said they take about a month to call back the people who are interested so they can apply. (:think:) It's been 2 months since I called, and I haven't even applied yet. :stinkeye:

I'm calling again this week. I may try another shelter if I don't have luck with this one.

I've emailed around to places that say they need volunteers, but they don't seem to be getting back to me :(

People that know me know that I take in unwanted animals.

I don't really live in a city and the biggest city near me is Detroit which is half an hour away. I do what I can when people contact me.

I have 4 rescue kittens living with me currently that will be put into forever homes soon.

I've emailed around to places that say they need volunteers, but they don't seem to be getting back to me :(
You have to be patient, polite and persistent. Keep in mind that most rescue groups are all volunteer. I work a regular 40 hour a week job and do rescue work on nights and evenings. Sometimes it takes me a few days to check voicemail, much less return phone calls.

Not sure exactly what kind of volunteer work you want to do, but here's one suggestion. Many rescue groups hold adopt-a-pets on the weekend. Visit them at one of these events and talk to some of the volunteers there. It took me being persistent and asking a lot of questions to finally get to the point where I was able to actually do things that would make a difference.

Just remember that they're not trying to be rude or ignore you. They truly do want help. But it's kind of a big catch 22. To take the time to answer and train new volunteers, you have to have the time. You don't have the time without the volunteers. :)

Yeah, I know, I'm still trying to get in touch. But it has been over a week. I'll email again tonight.

I live in Pittsburgh, and I contacted our city's only no-kill shelter to volunteer. The person I spoke to said they take about a month to call back the people who are interested so they can apply. (:think:) It's been 2 months since I called, and I haven't even applied yet. :stinkeye:

I'm calling again this week. I may try another shelter if I don't have luck with this one.
That's sad that shelters are so bad about getting volunteers.
I can tell you that the Volunteer Coordinator position is the hardest job. In addition to recruiting and training volunteers, you're usually stuck with the responsibility of keeping all the shifts filled, so anytime someone calls in sick or needs a day off you end up racing around to find a replacement. It's that last part that eats up all their time and keeps them from their main duty of recruiting new volunteers.

Tangled's advice about going to an adoption event and talking to the volunteers is good. It's true that it takes a bit of patience sometimes. But it's well worth it. For the animals, and for the enjoyment you'll get out of it too.

That's sad that shelters are so bad about getting volunteers.
I can tell you that the Volunteer Coordinator position is the hardest job. In addition to recruiting and training volunteers, you're usually stuck with the responsibility of keeping all the shifts filled, so anytime someone calls in sick or needs a day off you end up racing around to find a replacement. It's that last part that eats up all their time and keeps them from their main duty of recruiting new volunteers.

Tangled's advice about going to an adoption event and talking to the volunteers is good. It's true that it takes a bit of patience sometimes. But it's well worth it. For the animals, and for the enjoyment you'll get out of it too.

That's a good idea - going to an adoption event. I will come back to let everyone know what the shelter said today. :) Maybe they are busy, like you said, and they haven't had time to recruit new people like me!