Letter to the Editor

My letter to the editor was printed in the local paper today. Woohoo!

They edited my letter a little - made it more concise in parts and put in at least one typo. That's a little upsetting because I don't want to look careless/stupid. However, I realize that I wrote this letter to tell about this wonderful organization and to help kitties - so, I'll get over that.

Here's the text of my original letter:

I wanted to write about a wonderful experience I had with a local non-profit organization that helps felines. CATsNAP (Champaign Area Trap Spay/Neuter and Adoption Program - www.catsnap.org) is a local no-kill shelter/foster program and, as their name implies, they run a spay/neuter facility in conjunction with Animal Control.

As a cat owner (with five of my own), I recently encountered a stray cat that decided to call my back porch home. I e-mailed CATsNAP asking if they were accepting animals. Unfortunately, they were full. But, very fortunately - Susan Norris asked that I bring "Tommy" in to have him neutered and vaccinated. What a relief to me to at least be making some progress in the adoption process. When I dropped Tommy off I met a young woman in scrubs. I was talking to her for several minutes before I realized she was the vet, Dr. Gretchen Reid. I got choked up as I attempted to tell her what a generous and wonderful job she does. I told Dr. Reid that I have five cats of my own and just don’t know what I would do with anymore…she told me that she has eight. And she fosters many more. She is truly an inspirational woman.

As it turned out, Tommy was already neutered but Dr. Reid updated his shots and treated him for parasites, etc. I left a donation to help their cause. This is a cause I believe in. We have an incredible amount of homeless animals in the Champaign-Urbana area. Our Humane Society cannot keep up with all of the incoming animals. I encourage you to read CATsNAP’s website and see the statistics. CATsNAP has taken in almost 400 cats from the Humane Society. Cats that would have been “exterminated”. Again, this is not the Humane Society’s fault – there are too many cats in this area that need homes. And for these homeless cats to wander around intact – only creates more and more cats that are in need of homes. It is understandable that not all people can afford to spay/neuter their cat(s), but CATsNAP is a program that provides spaying/neutering for pets of low income families and/or feral cats. There is a suggested donation of $20 to $30 per cat.

Right now, Tommy is staying with us. We will make sure that he finds a loving home. Here’s to hoping all cats are as lucky as Tommy.

**Tommy did find a happy home!