Good Person Award!
So, do you ever meet people that seem to go above and beyond what they need to? This week I had the privlege of meeting a fantastic woman and getting introduced to her organization -- Camp Companion (www.campcompanion.org). Michelle Quandt deserves a big hug or at least a pat on the back from all of you if you ever meet her.
To set the stage -- when I bought the barn there were 8 feral cats. OK, one was almost friendly, but the others were completely wild. Luckily they looked healthy, and I completely understand that a barn needs cats to control the vermin problem. However, 4 of those cats are calicos -- for you non-cat people, those are guaranteed mommies.
So, one week after I closed on my place there were 21 kittens. After we pulled them out of the walls of the barn at five weeks and I had a stall collapse on me in the process we found 13 kittens and then there was a whole lot of X rated kitty activities going on.
Being an animal person, I realize this is going to get out of hand FAST. So, I start by finding homes for all the babies -- I'm down to five kittens... not a bad start. Then I start calling around... $210 to spay a cat, then how am I going to catch them? $1600+ to fix my problem? Not an option. I call the humane societies, animal control, thinking maybe they will take some and I will spay and neuter the rest. Everyone was full, no one would help. One group suggested euthanizing them by tying them in a bag attached to my car exhaust -- I was sick. And I was frustrated-- I was trying to be responsible, do the right thing and help these animals and no one would help me.
Enter Michelle and her program that spays and neuters feral cats for a very reasonable donation (or none at all if you can't afford it). They trap the cats, take them to the vet, and bring them back with their ear notched so they can keep track of the cats in SE Minnesota that they've helped. Their program has been going since 2003, and they just altered their 1,000th cat!
And why does Michelle do this? Is she a crazy cat lady? She actually told me she doesn't even own a cat, she just saw there was a problem and she knew there had to be a solution, so she started Camp Companion.
THANK YOU MICHELLE-- for helping people like me. :)
Picture of the day: Some of our babies playing in the summer sun.
To set the stage -- when I bought the barn there were 8 feral cats. OK, one was almost friendly, but the others were completely wild. Luckily they looked healthy, and I completely understand that a barn needs cats to control the vermin problem. However, 4 of those cats are calicos -- for you non-cat people, those are guaranteed mommies.
So, one week after I closed on my place there were 21 kittens. After we pulled them out of the walls of the barn at five weeks and I had a stall collapse on me in the process we found 13 kittens and then there was a whole lot of X rated kitty activities going on.
Being an animal person, I realize this is going to get out of hand FAST. So, I start by finding homes for all the babies -- I'm down to five kittens... not a bad start. Then I start calling around... $210 to spay a cat, then how am I going to catch them? $1600+ to fix my problem? Not an option. I call the humane societies, animal control, thinking maybe they will take some and I will spay and neuter the rest. Everyone was full, no one would help. One group suggested euthanizing them by tying them in a bag attached to my car exhaust -- I was sick. And I was frustrated-- I was trying to be responsible, do the right thing and help these animals and no one would help me.
Enter Michelle and her program that spays and neuters feral cats for a very reasonable donation (or none at all if you can't afford it). They trap the cats, take them to the vet, and bring them back with their ear notched so they can keep track of the cats in SE Minnesota that they've helped. Their program has been going since 2003, and they just altered their 1,000th cat!
And why does Michelle do this? Is she a crazy cat lady? She actually told me she doesn't even own a cat, she just saw there was a problem and she knew there had to be a solution, so she started Camp Companion.
THANK YOU MICHELLE-- for helping people like me. :)
Picture of the day: Some of our babies playing in the summer sun.
posted by Crazy Horse Lady at 9:43 PM
5 Comments:
Wow. I'm so impressed by people who see something they can fix and take the initiative to do it. Way to go, Michelle!
PS: Those are some cute kittens!
Is mini-Pheidi still there?
Lori
Hey Lori-- Mini Pheidi is still there and actually we're up to 6 now... I was picking up a horse and the woman found Mini Pheidi2, a three week old baby kitty with no mommy (someone dumped it at her farm). So... We're bottle feeding him and it looks like he should make it. Same black kitty with the white spot. :)
Everytime I see this picture of these cute kitties it makes me think I want one. But I don't really. They sure are cute though.
Post a Comment
<< Home