CAT RESCUE
240 felines is all in a year’s work for one centre
Ruth Savage has got used to saying goodbye to the cats she loves.
Savage fosters stray and feral cats for SCAT Street Cat Rescue, a local no-kill organization. Over the last three and a half years, about 90 cats have gone through her house.
She sees the silver lining whenever one of her furry foster kids moves on to their permanent home.
“Every single cat that I give up makes room for another cat to be saved. There’s no way I could have saved 90 cats in three years by adopting them myself. As it is I have a lot of animals looking for lap time,” Savage says.
Some of them need more than just a lap to sit on. Savage has taken in several cats with some sort of special needs.
Take Llewelyn. A condition called cerebellar hypoplasia disrupts his movement and balance. Where most cats are deft and agile, Llewelyn has trouble getting across a room without wiping out. He has improved dramatically in the time spent in her house, but still has a ways to go.
In the past, Savage has fostered cats who had amputations, mothers about to give birth and even one feline who had just had a cleft palate repaired.
SCAT finds out about strays around Saskatoon through public tips. There are many more reports than they can handle.
“Every day, I get about eight to 10 requests for help, and in a typical day, I have to say no to all of them,” says Shae Fehr, SCAT’s centre manager. They prioritize those with serious illness or injury.
The no-kill philosophy defines SCAT’s efforts. With the exception of terminal, painful illness and irreparable injuries, they never euthanize a cat.
While a belief that killing any animal is inhumane is a big part of the no-kill philosophy, Fehr said it can also help control the stray cat population. SCAT will sometimes take in a stray, spay or neuter it, then release it back in the area it was found. Fehr says this can prevent a new, fertile cat from taking over the area and continuing the cycle of reproduction.
SCAT helps about 240 cats a year, Fehr says. Aside from the stresses of running off of donated money, the main bottleneck is finding places to put them.
“The biggest problem is trying to have enough foster homes to keep up with the demand, which is essentially impossible at the moment,” she says.
For Savage, doing her part offers plenty of rewards.
“I get a lot of satisfaction from it. I think every time a cat goes to a forever home, I feel like I’ve done something good,” she says.