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CATMAN2, INC. ITS IMPACT ON OTHERS
Since its conception Catman2 has been
setting the bar for cat shelters in Western North Carolina and
beyond. When I arrived in this area in the mid 1990s the term
“No-kill” was almost unknown. Government shelters, and most
private shelters, operated under the assumption that it was their duty
to take in all stray cats in order to control their population.
If cats weren’t adopted within their time frame they felt
justified to euthanize the animal to make room to accept more.
Government shelters were required to accept this policy, it was a
mandate of the people to control animal populations. Private shelters
could have made their own rules, but most went along thinking they were
helping to solve the problem. Some even tried to obtain government
funding to pay their costs of operation.
Prior to moving here I had been a volunteer at
a large animal shelter in Florida. Here dogs and cats were considered
equal, and space, money, and time, were devoted to both. In Western
North Carolina, it seemed to me, dogs ruled. In most shelters ninety
percent of the efforts were relegated to dogs. Cats were a
“token” item living in small rooms and almost always kept
in cages.
My attempts to change this policy, most of the
time, fell on deaf ears. “Cats were not popular pets,” I
was told. It was this attitude that stimulated me to open my own
shelter and Catman2. Inc. was born.
During the past twelve years I have proven
these nay Sayers wrong by finding homes for more than 2500 cats.
Now others have begun to follow my lead.
Several groups have come to me for advice prior to setting up their
operation. Private shelters have come to learn that it is not their
duty to accept every cat brought to them. They have realized that one
can do only what one is able, and that a private shelter cannot save
the world. It can only do what resources, space, and manpower and
people to adopt, will allow.
No-kill has become the norm today. Even
government shelters have embraced the concept by allowing private
shelters to rescue healthy, adoptable animals in order to save their
lives.
I do not mean to imply that I was the only
reason this change in attitude came about. There are many other groups
that also could take credit. But I have to believe that Catman2, Inc.
has had a lot to do with it, at least in Western North Carolina.
Anyone interested in help with this matter are
welcome to contact us at our web site www.catman2.org
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