Friday, June 24, 2005
Cat Comfort
C. is one of two staff members who went to an animal welfare conference a few months ago. Since these meetings are expensive, we can't send as many people as we would like to. To ensure that everyone benefits, those who attended write up their notes and distribute to co-workers.C. did a nice write up about "best practices" in terms of creating a comfortable place for cats in shelters. Back in the old days, when cats would live in a shelter for only 4-5 days before being either adopted, or ..... you know.... Their comfort wasn't really all that much considered. Back then, the focus was on getting them out alive. Fortunately those days are winding down, and cats in our facility, barring an extreme medical or behavioral issue, stay with us 'til it's time to go home. But that makes their comfort pretty darn important, or you'd have a bunch of depressed cats on your hands!
We asked C. to organize the Cat Comfort Committee to review the current cat conditions and recommend improvements based on what some of the best shelters in the country are doing. Volunteers and staff met and the ideas flowed.
The second meeting of this new committee is coming up next week and they are doing great! The Cat Comfort pilot is in full swing. Cardboard for the cats to scratch, donated toys for them to place with, toys made from toilet paper rolls, and even TV for them to watch!
Hey, if you get a chance: bring us all your empty toilet paper rolls. Seriously.
