Practicing and promoting Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois

We're a 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and practicing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois. We believe that TNR is the only effective, humane and long-term solution to the problem of cat overpopulation.

The Feral Fixers e-Newsletter - Issue #9 - June, 2009

Save the date!

June 27th is the date of the first annual Feral Fixers

Wet Your Whiskers

An evening of fun and frolic and music for all of us who love cats!

This event will be held from 7:00pm to 10:00pm at Fitz's Pub
located at 172 N Addison in Elmhurst, IL

Fill the Van!

One of our volunteers, Sue, loans us her van whenever we need to transport a lot (10+) of cats to the PAWS-Chicago Spay/Neuter clinic.  Thanks Sue!  Some of you may remember this picture from last March when we stuffed 21 cats inside of it for transport.  For Wet Your Whiskers, this van will be parked outside the event and we are asking all attendees to help us Fill The Van by bringing a donation of cat food, newspaper or anything else from our Wish List.  Each person who donates will receive a raffle ticket for a Wine Basket which we will be giving away to a lucky winner.  So, bring a donation, help us help the cats and perhaps you'll take home the prize!

Message from the President

This month Feral Fixers is asking for your help in several ways.

We have Jewel Shop & Shares scheduled for June 15th – 17th. This event requires no additional money out of your pockets, just remembering to hand the cashier the slip when you check out. Even if you forget, if you return to the store before the week is out, they can usually send your portion in with the rest. We’ve had great results with this fundraiser before, please pass this information on to co-workers, friends and family, as anyone who shops at Jewel can contribute in this way.

We have a TNR workshop scheduled for June 20th at Bow Wow Playground, 400 W St. Charles Road, Villa Park from 1PM – 3PM. Please pass the word, we will be showing how traps work, answering questions and it should be very informative!

We have a fundraising event coming this month – “Wet Your Whiskers” - on June 27th – please consider attending, donating if you cannot attend, and passing the information on to anyone who might be interested. It should be a lot of fun, a first time event for us and one that we hope we will be able to repeat.

We also need your help in a way that we have never asked for before. One of our favorite stories is about the nursing home colony. Well, nothing lasts forever and the nursing home is expanding and building on the property that the colony stands on. We have been given several weeks to relocate the cats – June 20th would be the date by which we need to move the cats out. Until today, May 26th, we had been assured that the cats and their housing were welcome and no problem. So this comes as a bit of a shock. We will try to go up the corporate ladder, but with the short time frame, we must start on alternative plans. And it still comes down to a building standing where their shelters are now.

We do not support relocation normally, there are too many hazards to the cats – coyotes, the way they tend to return where they came from, even if its 30 miles away, unfamiliar roads, etc....

Read more about what our President, Tammy McAuley, has to say about 'We Need You!' at Feral Fixers here.

Feral Fixers hosts its second TNR Workshop

On June 20th, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, at the Bow Wow Playground located at 400 W St. Charles Road in Villa Park, Feral Fixers will host its second TNR Workshop.  This workshop will tell you about the "whys" and show you the "hows" of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).  You will learn how to coordinate your efforts with others in the neighborhood that may be feeding the cats, how to use to humane traps and trap dividers and tricks to use to catch those wily cats who are trap-wise.

Come and listen to our cat and trapping guru (and Feral Fixers President) Tammy McAuley as she shows you the ropes and answers all your questions.  Please bring your friends and anyone else who may want to learn more about Trap-Neuter-Return.

You can also download our TNR Workshop flier to post in your neighborhood stores and bulletin boards and pass out to your friends and neighbors.

See you there!

Want to help?

Interested in helping Feral Fixers?  We are looking for a 'few good volunteers'!  Specifically, we're looking for someone to help us transport cats to and from PAWS (the Spay/Neuter clinic we use) in Chicago.  We need transport both in the morning and the afternoon.  If you're interested in helping, call us at (630) 881-FXRS (3977) or
email us at info@feralfixers.org.

Feral Fixers receives cat food donations!

Feral Fixers recently received a large donation of food from ASAP ((Animal Services and Assistance Programs Inc., located at 19309 Kishwaukee Valley Road in Marengo, IL 60152). Here are a couple of pictures of some (but not all!) of the food they donated to our organization.

Most of this food is distributed directly to colony caretakers, many of whom that would not be able to adequately maintain ‘their’ colony otherwise. We received both dry and wet food. Both types of food are needed and are gratefully accepted.

Thanks ASAP!!

Feral Fixers also recently received a large donation of dry Cat Food from PURRS-Naperville. This food, too, will go to help local colony caretakers who are unable to afford such large quantities as are necessary to feed their colonies. PURRS is a longtime friend of Feral Fixers having given us many donations of food and money in the past as well as taking adoptable cats and kittens off our hands and finding them new homes.

Thanks PURRS-Naperville!!

How many cats?  890 !!

Feral Fixers was founded and incorporated in late September, 2007.  In our first fiscal year (through September, 2008) Feral Fixers had 476 cats spay/neutered.  So far in our second fiscal year, Feral Fixers has had 414 more cats spay/neutered.

Shop & Share is back!

Yes, the Shop & Share program is back!  This is a program set up by Jewel-Osco which gives the designated organization 5% of whatever you spend in their stores on the designated dates.  Last year, Feral Fixers received over $230.00 from this program and this year we'd like to do better.  If you click on the Shop&Share button, to the left, you'll be able to download coupons good for June 15, 16 and 17 of this year.  Just bring one of these coupons to any Jewel-Osco on one of those three dates.  Sign it and give it to the cashier when you pay for your groceries and he/she will fill in the amount of your purchase that day.  Jewel-Osco will then donate 5% of your total purchase amount to Feral Fixers - it's that simple!  And don't forget to make copies of these coupons and send them to your friends so they can support us to - thank you!

Donate to Feral Fixers

Feral Fixers offers its TNR services to all colony caretakers, without charge.  While we ask for donations from colony caretakers, we recognize that for some of them, any additional cost is just too much.  Therefore we rely on donations from other individuals to make up the difference and allow us to continue our work.  These donations allow us to spay/neuter additional cats, keep a 'bank' of traps and trap dividers we loan out for free, hold workshops and provide other educational benefits.  You can help us continue our work by clicking on the Donate button, below.  This will take you to the PayPal website where you can donate to Feral Fixers via PayPal or Credit card.  Feral Fixers is a registered 501c3 charitable organization and any donation is deductible to the fullest amount allowed by law.  Any amount you care to donate is gratefully received.

Calendar of Upcoming Feral Fixers Events

June 15th, 16th, and 17th – Jewel Shop & Share days. Please use the Shop & Share donation slips you can download (see article in this newsletter, above) when you shop at Jewel during these three days. Hand one to the checkout person and Jewel will donate 5% of your purchase price to Feral Fixers. Make copies of these slips and hand them to your friends – Thank You!

June 20th – Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Workshop. This workshop will cover the basics of trapping feral cats, feral cat care, and will answer all your questions about how and why you should support TNR. See the article, above, on this workshop for more details about this event.

June 24th - Feral Fixers will be hosting a booth at the Bensenville "Music in the Park" summer event.  This is always a lot of fun and the music is first-rate.  Come out and say hello!

June 27th – Wet your Whiskers! This fundraising event will be held from 7:00pm to 10:00pm at Fitz’s Pub, 172 N Addison Road, in Elmhurst. See the article, above, for more details of this fun event.

July 4th – Feral Fixers will appear in Bensenville’s annual Fourth of July Parade.

July 26th, 2009 – Feral Fixers will have a booth at the 2nd annual DuPage County Animal Care & Control Dog Wash & Walk. Come by and say hello!

Shop for Feral Fixers!

Visit us on the Web!

Visit our website at www.feralfixers.org.  There you can donate to us (via PayPal or Credit card), visit our store, read the latest news, and learn more about Feral cats.  If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can also sign up to be on our mailing list so you don't miss a thing!

What is TNR (Trap / Neuter / Return)? TNR is a full management plan in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors in cities, towns, and rural areas are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized by veterinarians. When space is available, adoptable cats and kittens are transferred to sheltering organizations to be adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats unsocialized to humans are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of their original caretakers.

Feral Fixers, NFP, is a certified 501c3 corporation - EIN Number 13-4364615