Mom loves seeing other shelters and how they do things. Being in rescue, you can never stop learning and sharing. The more we all know, the more lives we can save. Miss Connie fosters for the Animal Welfare Society in Maine. A nice lady met mom and the other cat ladies on Tuesday morning and took them for a tour.
This cabin is set back almost to the woods. It houses their feral colony and is also used as an introduction space if they take in a feral cat that cannot be returned to it's former location for what ever reason. If you look closely to the left, there are cat trees made of wood that gives the cats something to play with.
A donor wanted to do something for the shelter in memory of their cat. Seems their cat loved their patio and so the money they donated went to create a catio type window outside of the cat rooms.
Inside there are a couple of rooms with cages for new intakes, cats with medical issues or those cats that do not get along in a group setting. There are then 3 open space rooms. One closed off, and the other divided by a sliding door that can be opened or closed depending on the space needs. There are steps to upper walk ways and nice big windows.
There is also a separate building with its own catio for their barn cats - those cats that aren't really feral but may do best as working cats.
They also have a huge fenced in back yard space for the dogs. They try to make sure each dog gets outside for enrichment and play dates each day.
A few interesting things mom learned:
- They have a partnership with a local pet store that takes all their small animal surrenders and adopts them out from the store.
- They have a fund set up to help with spay/neuter across Maine. The hope is to get into areas that need help based on income and help those that need it. From what mom understands, it is set up on a certificate basis and then participating vet information is given to those who request certificates.
- Because their adoption rates are so good, they are able to import animals (mostly dogs) from the south and get them adopted out relatively quickly.
They are working on expanding their medical space to include more impact on spay/neuter but to also provide everyday medical care to pets based on a sliding income scale....trying to keep pets with their owners by reducing costs.
We certainly wish them the best of luck on all their endeavors.
This girl sat by the corner and watched everyone - until they got too close and then she took off. They have a black cat that comes out to greet transport vans.
Inside there are a couple of rooms with cages for new intakes, cats with medical issues or those cats that do not get along in a group setting. There are then 3 open space rooms. One closed off, and the other divided by a sliding door that can be opened or closed depending on the space needs. There are steps to upper walk ways and nice big windows.
There is also a separate building with its own catio for their barn cats - those cats that aren't really feral but may do best as working cats.
A few interesting things mom learned:
- They have a partnership with a local pet store that takes all their small animal surrenders and adopts them out from the store.
- They have a fund set up to help with spay/neuter across Maine. The hope is to get into areas that need help based on income and help those that need it. From what mom understands, it is set up on a certificate basis and then participating vet information is given to those who request certificates.
- Because their adoption rates are so good, they are able to import animals (mostly dogs) from the south and get them adopted out relatively quickly.
They are working on expanding their medical space to include more impact on spay/neuter but to also provide everyday medical care to pets based on a sliding income scale....trying to keep pets with their owners by reducing costs.
We certainly wish them the best of luck on all their endeavors.
