12/14/2024
Want to see a project the Community Cat Program is working on right now? It’s a barn with a big cat colony we were called about last month. The farmer was desperate for our help. He figured he had about 30 cats there. We generally close stop our TNR projects for the winter, but we took this one on now knowing how many new kittens there’d be if we waited until spring.
We’re not done yet, but so far, we have taken six kittens into foster; they’re being socialized and will some day be adopted at Berkshire Humane Society. We currently have FORTY cats in house, all of which will be spayed or neutered, and returned. At least one more still needs to be trapped at the farm, and there are approximately seven across the street at a place of business. We consider them part of the same project.
There’s a very kind donor who has offered to help the farmer with cat food costs (feeding that many kitties gets quite expensive!) and another donor for the bill to spay and neuter them.
See the room where they’re setting up cats? That’s the amazing Edda Hyde Community Cat Center. It used to be the loading dock at Berkshire Humane Society. We have it thanks to a donation to Berkshire Humane Society in the memory of a person who was an avid animal lover. It’s state of the art, and it was made just for the needs of our program. We call it “The Castle”, (as opposed to the garden shed we used to use for our program, which we called “The Catty Shack”).
We don’t post much here- that’s because the volunteer trappers and caretakers are so busy with the tasks at hand, they forget to take pictures. But we do trap neuter return projects from spring to late fall, and we make a big difference in the lives of the cats we help… and their caretakers, too.
We are an all volunteer team, dedicated to our spay and neuter mission. If you want to make a donation to support TNR in the Berkshires, you can send a check made out to Community Cat Program of Berkshire Humane Society and sent to the Berkshire Humane Society at 214 Barker Road, Pittsfield, MA 01201.
We also have a cat food pantry just for feral cats. That’s because cats often show up at the doorsteps of people who are kind enough to to care for them, but don’t necessarily have spare money to buy them food. All of the cats we give food to have gone through our Trap Neuter Return program, or are scheduled to. Our food pantry makes sure those cats get the support they need.
Want to help with that?
We need both shreds and pate canned food (any brand, any size). We run out of food on a regular basis. Food can be left in the donation box next to the garage in the lower parking lot at Berkshire Humane. If any food is left at the BHS main desk, it needs to be labeled for Community Cats Pantry. We can also use gift cards to purchase food at Tractor Supply, WalMart, Pet Supplies Plus, or Petco. People can also place food orders (for Community Cats Program) through Amazon or Chewy’s. Any monetary donations need to be specifically designated for: Community Cats Food Pantry. Our mailing address is: Community Cats Program, 214 Barker Rd. Pittsfield, MA 01201. We deeply appreciate your support.
