What we hope for within the next year
We have a minimum that we need to continue our operation, and we
have our dream.
The Minimum
The minimum would be space equivalent to what we now use. We'd need three
communal rooms the size of small bedrooms and one the size of an average
living room, plus space for 16 individual enclosures for new or recuperating
animals. We'd also need space for our bunnies. We don't have many bunnies
now but we would need space for five outdoor enclosures at least 6 feet
by 6 feet each. (Our bunnies are long term residents and we have to give
them a good quality of life.) For work space, we'd need a place to wash
dishes and to wash litter pans etc. We'd need space to serve food, space
to store food, space to store bedding and small equipment, and space to
do our paperwork and store our records. (Phew! No wonder our barn seems
cramped now.) We'd also need parking for volunteers and visitors -- seven
or eight spots should do it.
The Dream
The Dream is not elaborate, we only want a real, workable facility. Ideally
we need about 12-15 communal rooms, each the size of a small bedroom. The
cats shouldn't live in groups of more than 10 ideally. It allows a better
quality of life for them and more effective infection control. One communal
room would be for FIV+ cats and one for FeLV+ cats. We'd have rooms for
cats with different dietary requirements. We'd need about two dozen segregated
enclosures for new animals and animals who need to live alone due to illness.
These enclosures should be the size of the dog crates that we now use for
new animals and ringworm cats, about three feet square. Each area that
serves as living quarters for cats should have access to the outdoors via
a small attached enclosed porch. We need a kitchen with a microwave and
fridge. We need a laundry room with a sturdy old working washer and dryer.
We need a washroom. (Right now the rule is: go before you leave home!)
We need a rodent proof storage room for pet food and a place to store equipment.
We'd like an Education room because we'd like a place for groups of kids
to sit who come to learn about animal welfare. We'd need a lockable office
to do our paperwork and store our records and any valuables. We'd like
enough parking for volunteers and visitors to accommodate at least a dozen
cars at a time. Hopefully if there's ever overflow during a special event,
there would be street parking within walking distance.
Any sturdy, weather-proof building can be converted into our dream shelter.
It will just take a little ingenuity, imagination and enterprise. That
we have. All we need is the resources and we can do it!
If volunteers go out of town on vacation, they usually manage to persuade
their long-suffering spouses to add a shelter visit to the itinerary. One
volunteer who visited England toured the National Cat Centre to learn and
get ideas, and took lots of photos. In this excellent organization, each
individual cat enclosure has an outdoor area attached so they can enjoy
the fresh air, sunshine and bird-watching.
back to Katie's Place Must Move!