Caring Coasters save feral felines
By Christine Wood

Kittens dying of starvation, infested with worms and fleas and shivering violently from the cold — and cats reproducing at alarming rates to continue the torturous cycle. That’s the harsh scenario that has been changed thanks to three dedicated ladies on Team Feral, Happy Cat Haven and the volunteer assistance of Sechelt Animal Hospital.

Back in 1999 volunteers with Happy Cat Haven in Gibsons approached Dr. Lorne Carroll of the Sechelt Animal Hospital for help with a program that would stop the constant problem of starving, diseased, reproducing feral cats on the Sunshine Coast.

The idea was simple. Three volunteers, Joni Heinrich, Lori Edwards and Pam Albers, would seek out colonies of feral cats on the Coast, trap as many as possible and take them to Carroll at the Sechelt Animal Hospital to be spayed or neutered. Then they would be released back where they were found and food would be provided to them so they could survive but not reproduce.

Carroll, being an animal lover and wanting to give back to his community, instantly agreed to offer one free spay/neuter day a month for the abandoned animals, but soon he’d find spaying and neutering wasn’t enough. Most of the animals also needed vaccinations, de-worming and flea treatments to live any kind of quality life. He would step up to offer those treatments as well, all for free.

“He has just been our saviour really. The program couldn’t have happened without him,” said Violet Winegarden of Happy Cat Haven.

Feral cats were a huge problem in 1999, with hundreds found in colonies from Port Mellon to Pender Harbour.

“Those colonies all started with someone throwing their family cat out into the wild to fend for itself or die,” said Winegarden, heartbroken at the thought.

“I just don’t know how people can do that to another living thing.”

The once tame cats, if able to survive, would mate with other cats also discarded by their owners and each litter of kittens would become more wild.

The cats would continue to breed and often suffer severe disease and starvation.

“We would find them basically like skeletons with fur. Some would die as we were bringing them in. They would be so cold and we’d try to give them as much body warmth as we could but they just didn’t make it. Many would be covered with fleas and crawling with worms, barely able to lift their heads. They didn’t really have a chance. Its just heartbreaking,” Winegarden said.

Winegarden runs Happy Cat Haven, a non-profit shelter for needy cats on the Coast. She’s taken in over 4,700 animals since 1994 at the shelter and found adoptive homes for most of those cats and kittens, but the feral cats posed a problem.

“They are basically so wild they don’t even want to be touched by humans and they aren’t adoptable,” she said, noting some kittens can be tamed and adopted, but it is a rarity.

Residents on the Coast would occasionally call Winegarden when they came upon a feral cat population and Winegarden, animal lover that she is, couldn’t ignore their need for help.

She and what would become Team Feral put together an action plan to clean up the Coast’s feral cat population and keep it from spreading.

They enlisted the help of Alley Cat Allies, a large international organization whose expertise regarding feral cats is unlimited. http://www.alleycat.org/

“They came here for a few days and helped and showed us exactly what to do. There was no kidding around — it was serious business, and we learned a lot,” Winegarden said.

They learned how to trap the animals safely and eventually created their own patent for a feral cat trap that works well in our climate. They constructed feeder boxes to be left at the feral cat sites and filled weekly by volunteers.

They came up with protocols to keep the feral cats in their homes while waiting for a free spay day and they learned how to handle the wild animals safely.

“In the beginning we lost a few. One went right up over my shoulder and took a chunk of it with him. I thought I had a good hold on him but I didn’t. The other one we lost when someone opened the trap before they were supposed to and it ended up dying. Because of that we now have padlocks on the traps so no one can open them. We never really got over the loss,” Winegarden said.

She and her dedicated volunteers on Team Feral helped trap, spay or neuter and treat hundreds of feral cats and kittens in the past seven years, so many, in fact, their job on the Coast now seems nearly complete.

“Where we used to bring in hundreds of ferals a month, now we bring in two or three a month — so we were sitting back the other day and thinking we’ve actually done what we set out to do. We’ve stopped the production of these cats and we’ve given them some kind of life, and we’re proud of that,” Winegarden said.

Her team is now looking at lending their expertise elsewhere in B.C. while still keeping tabs on the feral cat population on the Coast. Winegarden notes the entire cycle could be started again if humans repeat their uncaring ways.

“Someone could throw some more cats or kittens out in the woods and it could start all over. It’s amazing to me the kind of neglect humans can show to these animals,” Winegarden said.

The program is far from over, just scaled back at the moment. Winegarden notes the feral program could use a few more supporters to provide the cost of a feeder box to one of the colonies already saved.

Currently there are about 10 feeder boxes on the Coast that are well used by feral cat populations. Winegarden says at least 10 more are needed.

“The cost to make one of those boxes is about $100 because they are specially made to make sure only cats can get in them. We would love for people to step forward and sponsor one of those boxes and then we would put their name on the side of it in honour of the donation,” Winegarden said. They are also always in need of donations of food to fill the feeder boxes.

Winegarden asks anyone who sees feral cats in the wild to contact her and let her know as soon as possible. To report a feral cat population or to donate to the feral cat program, contact Winegarden at 604-886-2407.