Finally an update on the SOS mobile home TNR project!

I think it has taken me this long to recover from the huge SOS (Spay our Strays) mobile home feral cat TNR project! So sorry for the delay in reporting on what transpired. First and foremost, our efforts were a huge success!! We TNRed 79 cats in 3 mobile home parks in Lexington. That was a major effort for one weekend. I was in charge of one park and trapped 21 cats and kittens. The only bad part was that I could have trapped 100 more. These mobile home parks are literally FILLED with ferals and strays needing to be spayed and neutered. They are often local animal control facilities' largest source of homeless and unwanted kittens and cats. I learned quickly how important it is to for TNR volunteers in every city to tackle these areas in order to bring down the number of cats killed in shelters every year. One woman had taken 5 litters of kittens to our local animal control just this summer. Homeless cats are EVERYWHERE, but mobile home parks are the most fertile breeding grounds in every community. The people there can't afford proper vet care or spaying/neutering and many leave them behind when they move away. Then, there are always kind hearted souls who feed the abandoned kitties and the next thing they know, they've got 50 cats and kittens on their hands. It is a terribly vicious cycle. It is what has kept me preaching about spay/neuter since 2005 when I happened upon my first feral colony.

I can't discuss this project without giving a shout out to Dr. Liz Ubelhor, the amazing veterinarian, who performed all 79 surgeries last weekend!!! Yep, 79 cats in 13 hours. Her skill, tireless dedication and unbelievable generosity is nothing short of phenomenal!! I honestly can't properly describe the awe and gratitude I feel for her. She works as the main vet at the humane society five days a week and then volunteers her time most weekends at various low cost feral cat s/n clinics in our area. She is truly the spay/neuter queen and an angel to animals.

Ok, here are a few photos of my TNR adventure....

I didn't get any action shots during the trapping because it was raining and cold, but here are all the of the cats lined up in their traps in my garage once I got them all home.





This is Marlon aka "Fathead" after being released. He totally stole my heart! He is a HUGE, gorgeous cat with a the chubbiest cheeks you've ever seen (male cats often develop those large cheeks when they are unneutered). His caretaker has been feeding him for 5 years and he has fathered countless litter of kittens. NO MORE of that!!!!



Here he is sniffing out familiar territory...



This is one of Marlon's children, Pegleg. Apparently, Pegleg terrorizes his dad and drives the other kitties crazy, but he is such a sweet boy with people. He lost his back leg at some point...the stories on how it happened vary. He is a heartbreaker...so affectionate and funny. His caretakers are going to try to keep him inside now that he is neutered, but I am not sure how well that will go. He is one of those boys that will probably not like being confined in a small space, but my paws are crossed that it works.



And here is Pegleg with Regina. Regina is WONDERFUL! She is such a lovely person and was very grateful to have lots of kitties on her street TNRed. She is one of the four caretakers I worked with.



One of 5 kitties trapped at Tammy's trailer. She was thrilled to have her mama cats finally spayed.



And here is "Preggo" after I released her. Her caretaker said that she is ALWAYS pregnant hence the obvious name. I trapped several of her boyfriends as well.



So, that pretty much sums up the mobile home project. While we won't be able to do a mass trapping like this for awhile, we will continue to trap a few at a time. It is definitely going to be an ongoing endeavor.