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Rescue
operation provides homes for Folsom felines
By
Sekhar Padmanabhan
SacBee
Neighbors, East Edition
January 11, 2001
Folsom's felines are finding a new home - if only
for a while.
John Bennett and his wife, Janet, have been operating Folsom
Feline Rescue out of their Folsom home since May, organizing
foster care for 85 cats and kittens.
That's in addition to the 78 they fostered on their own in 1999
before starting the organization.
Although the nonprofit group tries to care for cats strictly in
Folsom, it will accept cats from the greater Sacramento area if
space is available.
"We keep telling (people) ... don't give up if you need a
place for that cat. Sometimes, these cats show up on a driveway,
or in this rainy weather, they come out for food."
The Bennetts will care for some cats in their home, keeping new
cats in quarantine for two weeks before releasing them to other
foster volunteers' homes. The younger kittens, less than 2 or 3
months old, John Bennett said, are rotated through as fast as
possible.
Volunteers care for the cats until permanent homes can be found
for them.
All cats under Folsom Feline Rescue's care receive tests for
feline leukemia, spay or neuter services, various vaccinations,
and flea protection and deworming as needed. Cats 6 months and
older are tested for FIV, the feline equivalent of HIV.
The Bennetts have a revolving-door policy for the life of all
their animals: If the adoption doesn't work out, the animal
should come back to them rather than be abandoned, placed in an
unsuitable home or taken to a shelter that euthanizes animals.
All potential "parents," as the Bennetts call adoptive
owners, are interviewed to ensure a suitable placement, and if
all seems OK, an adoption agreement is signed. Among other
things, the cat must remain indoors and cannot be declawed, and
it is to be provided a loving home, nutritious food and adequate
medical care. If the animal is returned to the
rescue group, the donated adoption fee will not be returned.
In an effort to keep track of their cats, the Bennetts ask to be
immediately notified if the cat becomes lost or is euthanized
because it has a terminal illness.
The group works with the Petco stores in Fair Oaks and Folsom to
hold adoption events. It also uses discounted rates at two
animal hospitals - American River Animal Hospital in Orangevale
and Blue Ravine Animal Hospital in Folsom - for all the
necessary medical procedures.
After a spay or neuter procedure is done and the animal is
deemed safe to go home, the adoptive owner in most cases can
pick up the cat at the veterinary offices. Sometimes rescue
workers meet the new owner at the veterinary offices to provide
more information.
The organization runs on cash donations and money collected
through fund-raising events. Because it is a registered
nonprofit organization, the group can solicit grants and
advertise the possibility of tax-deductible donations on its Web
site. Food and litter are the most expensive items and the most
difficult to cover, John Bennett said.
Donations also help cats with special needs, such as the
cataract surgery required by a young feline named Viktor, for
whom Viktor's Fund is named.
The Bennetts have raised $14,000 since May, and are budgeting
for $20,000 in 2001 "if we do our job right."
Except for Animal Outreach in El Dorado County, which holds
adoption days at the Folsom Petco, John Bennett says that his
organization is the only one working full time in the city.
The organization aims to reduce overpopulation by including the
spay or neuter costs in any adoption fees. But the Bennetts also
hope that by starting a rescue organization now - before the
city is fully developed - they can prevent a more serious
population problem later.
The Bennetts rescued their first cat from Grass Valley in the
early 1990s. But that cat died from a terminal illness.
A few years later, the couple took home a litter of six kittens
that needed foster care. One of them, Sophia, a black domestic
longhair, they kept as their own. She is now about 4 years old.
The rest were adopted out with the help of the Cats About Town
Society rescue group.
Area veterinarians said they are pleased that the service has
arrived in Folsom.
"It makes doing things like spay-and-neuter services a very
real opportunity," said Jennifer Sweet, a veterinarian at
Blue Ravine Animal Hospital. "They're making a more
positive difference."
The Folsom area, she said, is conducive to large stray and feral
cat populations because it has open spaces near constantly
running water. Recreation areas are nearby, and some cats can
survive - and multiply - because there is enough game to hunt.
If the animals are very young kittens, they are much more likely
to be transformed from feral to domesticated, Sweet said. But if
they're older than 6 or 8 months, the cats' independent nature
makes them much harder to place. They are generally not suitable
for homes with small children or multiple animals.
The animal hospital also receives support for this work from the
California Veterinary Medical Association in Carmichael.
Soon, the Bennetts hope to use traps to bring in feral cats for
medical treatment and spaying or neutering at no cost. In most
cases, these cats will be released where they were found with
the understanding that the person bringing them in will continue
to provide at least food and water. |
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