Po'Kitties Turns 10!

PO'KITTIES TURNS TEN!


Dana Mayer and Emmy Summers co-founded Po'Kitties on October 15, 2007 as the only TNR (trap-neuter-return) program in the area.  At that time, the "Itty-Bitty Po'Kitties Committee"consisted of Elaine Rizzo, Ginny Barton, Judy Davis, Jane Ratchford, Joyce Allen, and Veronika Wilson.  Foothills Humane Society agreed to allow us to make Po'Kitties a program under their 501(c)(3) and it remained there until we moved the program to Paws, Prayers, & Promises in October of 2015.


In 2007, Foothills Humane Society was saving only 37% of the cats that came in, and we believed that with TNR we could change those numbers. And change them we did!  The live release rate (LRR) for cats continued to improve and in 2010 reached No-Kill status for cats with a LRR of 99.78%.  The  LRR has remained in the 90s to date.

We owe much of our success to our cat caretakers.  Unlike some TNR programs, where cats are dumped out  to fend for themselves, we place cats back where they came from -- their home territory with caretakers -- where they will be fed and cared for daily.  

We are proud of the fact that others followed our lead, and we are eager to share our knowledge and experience.  We worked with the City of Spartanburg's Animal Services and with the Furman University's "PalaCats" group to start  TNR programs, both of which have been very successful, and with several other counties and individual groups who are working to start their own TNR programs.  
We have always provided this service free of charge to the community, because we think it is so important.  The cats are spayed or neutered, given a rabies vaccine, and ear tipped before being returned to their home turf. To pay for this, Po'Kitties has received several grants over the years, beginning with $85,000 from PetSmart Charities. This past year we have received grants from Two Mauds, Hub City Animal Project, and The Community Cats Program. We could not do this without our grantors and donors.

We are looking forward to our photo contest and gala set for October 14th at the Landrum Depot. We are still accepting photos through this weekend!


We are THRILLED to have been able to help the cats in our community for the past ten years and we want  this to be a BIG DEAL!  So please get your photos in and come to the gala. If you would like to be a sponsor,please call Dana@ 828-243-1852.