A look inside an all volunteer rescue organization

Posted by Jobi on April 7, 2009

waiting for a permanent home

Save Our Strays, as part of its mission, will accept every stray cat or kitten that needed help without prejudice to age, appearance, or health. The cat must reside in Pinellas County. They simply do not have enough foster homes to care for cats from other areas of the state.
The only reason an animal within Pinellas County is denied acceptance would be a lack of space.

Every animal taken into a Save Our Strays shelter home is cared for until adopted. Euthanasia is not practiced for population control. It is a procedure that is performed ONLY under the advice and supervision of a veterinarian and only if in the best interest of the animal.

Hard to place animals or those with special needs remain the ward of Save Our Strays if the proper adopter cannot be found. These animals do not live out their lives in cages. They live in the homes of loving foster parents who care for them cat for the remainder of their lives. Save Our Strays does not accept feral cats into foster homes because they are not a sanctuary. They have neither the resources, or the funds – including volunteers – to provide permanent, long term care for feral cats.

As soon as space is available in a shelter home, the cat is admitted to a foster home. Those seeking our assistance, in most cases, must provide transportation of the cat to the veterinarian for the initial exam or in some cases, directly to the foster home. Before any cat is adopted, it is given a thorough veterinary exam which includes a feline leukemia and FIV test, spay/neuter surgery, a distemper vaccine and a rabies vaccine. Every cat receives a microship. All necessary medical treatment, including surgery, is provided. When a cat is deemed healthy, it is ready for adoption and placed in an adoption outlet. Adoption outlets are pet stores that donate space including Petsmart, Luv-A-Pet Adoption Centers, and Pet Food Warehouse.

Save Our Strays also assists anyone who finds a stray cat and wants to give it a home. Their program, CAT (Care and Adopt Too), allows the individual to use the services of one of their vets at a pre-determined fee which covers sterilization, combo test and two vaccines). Another Tampa Bay organization,

Stop Pet Overpopulation Together (SPOT), has teamed up with local veterinarians to offer low cost spaying and neutering for cats and dogs at least 8 weeks of age.

Please feel free to drop a comment and let us know what is going on in your area.