News & Features » November 2013 » Simon’s Cat in Good Company: Spotlight on The Cat Network (Miami-Dade, Florida)

Simon’s Cat in Good Company: Spotlight on The Cat Network (Miami-Dade, Florida)

To celebrate Simon Tofield’s upcoming US tour for Simon’s Cat vs. the World, we’ll be spotlighting a few organizations and shelters that are dedicated to improving animal welfare in their communities and surrounding areas. Today, we’re spotlighting The Cat Network, a nonprofit based in Miami-Dade County, Florida dedicated to curbing feline overpopulation through trap-neuter-return programs as well as community education and engagement. From the Network’s team:

THE CAT NETWORK: NON-PROFIT ACHIEVEMENTS

Feeding a Stray—Neuter or Spay | I’d Rather be Sterilized than Euthanized

These are the slogans you see and read about when you hear about the work of The Cat Network in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

The Cat Network, Inc. (CN) is a 501(c)3, Florida not-for-profit corporation dedicated to humanely reducing cat overpopulation by educating the public about the need to sterilize their pets and strays; providing access to low-cost spay/neuter services for stray, homeless, and abandoned cats; helping members in their efforts to place adoptable cats in loving homes; and advocating non-lethal population control and humane public policy.

The Cat Network is an all-volunteer organization with over 3,500 members who work to educate the public in order to raise awareness of the importance of ending stray and feral cat overpopulation. Its programs are all manned by over 400 volunteers who participate in TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return), which is a nationally-recognized program whereby cats are trapped, taken to a vet for sterilization, and returned to their location. Volunteers also participate by fostering cats for adoption; manning the phone lines; and by constituting the Board of Directors. There is no paid Executive Director or CEO; the only two paid positions are two part-time Vet-techs, who participate on the Miami Meow Mobile.

To date, The Cat Network has helped place over 10,500 cats in permanent homes, and over 80,000 cats have been sterilized and vaccinated against rabies through the Network’s Spay/Neuter program. This Spay/Neuter program also includes the Miami Meow Mobile, which travels Miami-Dade County for a few days every month in order to help the public participate in curbing feline overpopulation. There are an estimated 400,000–500,000 free roaming cats in Miami-Dade county alone.

Over the past fifteen years, The Cat Network has received two Florida Animal Friend Grants (2007, 2010); a Honda Generator Grant (2008); a Maddie’s Fund Adoption Statistics Grant (as part of a Coalition between the Network, The Humane Society of Greater Miami, Animal Services, Friends Forever, and Pet Rescue); a Petco project grant for a Spayathon (2009); a $20,000 grant from Chase Community Giving, which was used to help sterilize the community cats on Miami Beach (2010); a $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant, used to create a program to transport felines from shelters to out-of-state rescue groups (2011); a grant from The Miami Foundation to sterilize 400 cats in Little Havana (2012); and a 2012 donation for a new GMC Savannah transport cargo van used to move cats from Miami-Dade Animal Services to other rescue groups around the country.

The Humane Society of Greater Miami, Miami-Dade Animal Services, and The Cat Network comprise the 10th and largest Community Partner of the ASPCA. In 2010, the partnership started with a live release rate just under 40%; this year, the partnership has brought that rate to just under 60%. The Cat Network has received over $150,000 in grants from the ASPCA to enhance the equipment on the Meow Mobile and to help defray the already low cost of the Spay/Neuter program to an even lower cost for community members.

The Cat Network has used donations to create special funds and projects, including Alfie’s Angel Fund, created in 2008 thanks to a generous grant from one of the Network’s members, which assists those of limited income due to age, disability, or special circumstances in spaying/neutering their animals; the WildCat RoundUp Spayathon, also created via a generous donation, which is held in October in honor of National Feral Cat Day (two cartoon characters, Tom-No-More® and Peggy-No-Preggy®, serve as mascots for the event). In 2009, The Cat Network was named the Best Non-Profit Animal Welfare Organization by the South Florida Veterinary Foundation.

You can find The Cat Network on Facebook, Twitter, or at their website.

And come see Simon Tofield at the Miami Book Fair International on Saturday, November 23rd!

Posted: Nov 15, 2013

Category: Akashic in Good Company, Simon's Cat in Good Company | Tags: cats, Simon's Cat, Simon's Cat in Good Company, Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos, Simon's Cat vs. the World, The Cat Network, TNR, trap neuter return, US tour