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Bills pile up for cat rescue

$10K shortfall for Craig Street

By: Matt Preprost

Posted: 08/19/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Kittens roam the kitten room at Craig Street Cats, a rescue for feral kittens and cats at 489 Madison Street. (MELISSA TAIT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Lynne Scott of Craig Street Cats talks on the phone while cradling Sammy, a kitten rescued by the adoption centre after he was thrown from a truck. The rescue centre for feral kittens and cats at 489 Madison Street is aching for donations during hazy days of summer when charitable donations dry up (MELISSA TAIT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

A community cat rescue is dealing with a $10,000 shortfall in August as its steady flow of donations has dried out over the summer.

Craig Street Cats founder Lynne Scott says the organization needs to pay $5,000 in bills immediately and is expecting to be hit with another $5,000 in vet bills by the end of the month.

The organization has only raised about $3,000 through donations and fundraising this month -- a large leap back from the $14,000 the organization raised in June.

"We're not talking closure or anything like that, but certainly if we're not able to keep our accounts current, the companies will put us back on a cash basis," Scott said.

"We couldn't order anything unless we have the cash to pay for it. We don't want to go there," she explained.

"That's a difficult way to do business, especially for a shelter."

Fundraising is a problem in summer for every charitable organization, not just Craig Street Cats, which manages and adopts out cats from the 11 feral colonies.

"People go away in the summer and donations just drop off," Scott said.

Last month, Craig Street Cats had to cut into its August budget to help pay July's vet bills, she said.

The shelter is expecting to be hit with another huge bill this month for treatment needed for a kitten tossed from a car between the towns of Piney and Sprague, and another that might lose its foot due to an abscess that went into the bone, she said.

"They all need to see the vet, they all need to eat, and, on top of that, we need to pay the rent and keep the lights on."

In June, Craig Street Cats opened an adoption centre on Madison Street in St. James near Polo Park. With 130 cats, it's already over capacity.

The shelter adopts out about one cat for every three it takes in and uses about $300 in food each day.

Spaying and neutering surgeries account for much of the vet costs, Scott said, along with ensuring there's a daily supply of antibiotics to deal with infections, worms, fleas and ear mites.

Winnipeg's feral cat population is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000.

It's all been an eye-opening experience for Scott, a former teacher who has run Craig Street Cats since 2007.

"I had a good idea of how serious the issue was before we opened, but it's bigger than what I believed it was," she said.

"Every day I'm getting calls for 50 to 100 cats. Obviously, we can't take them," she said.

For more information, call 204-421-1919 or visit cats.wolseleygirl.com .

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 19, 2012 0

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