Wayward Cats joining forces with CA-R-MA
Wayward Cats Society will soon be a chapter of CA-R-MA.
Beginning Jan. 1, the group will be working as Wayward Cats, Colchester Chapter of CA-R-MA (Cat Rescue Maritimes).
“Our day-to-day business will be exactly the same,” said Patsy Forrest Oxner, president of the society. “We’ll still be trapping, spaying and neutering, and adoptions will remain the same. We’ll be doing all the same things, but we’ll have a large support network and we’ll be able to learn from one another.
“This will also give us charitable status, allowing us to provide tax receipts for donations, and apply for grants we couldn’t access before.”
Wayward Cats Society formed in 2015, and has trapped and spayed/ neutered hundreds of feral cats. e cats are returned to their community if there is a caretaker for them, and if not they are placed in new barn homes. Non-feral cats found living in the colonies, and kittens, are adopted into homes.
CA-R-MA, which began operating in 2005 and currently has 13 chapters in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, does the same work.
“Becoming part of CA-R-MA is something we’ve been talking about since spring,” said Forrest Oxner. “We recently voted, and the decision to do this was unanimous.
“is is something that will make us stronger.”
e board will change from six members to four (chairperson, co-chairperson, secretary and treasurer). Wayward Cats will no longer take in cats – except in emergency cases – for the winter months, since they have no heated facility to keep cats in while they recover from surgery. Anyone with a heated space for recovering cats, or who is interested in helping out in other ways, is encouraged to message the group through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ Waywardcatssociety/email waywardcatssociety@gmail.com or call 902-957-8677.