WHO
WE ARE
WE ARE TEAM CAT.
BACKGROUND
Several years ago, the North Orange County Community College District purchased the Anaheim Campus, formerly the site of Martin Luther Hospital.
The purchase included not only acreage and buildings, but also an established tribe of approximately 25 cats.
NOCCCD employee Beth Stokes, having previously established a successful Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for the feral cat population at Cypress College, quickly endeavored to control, maintain, and ultimately reduce the population of the colony at the Anaheim Campus, and the Anaheim Feral Cat Project was born.
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Since inception of the project on December 20, 2002:
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Thirteen female cats have been spayed
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Twelve male cats have been neutered
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Eight kittens have been treated and adopted out
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Five tame cats have been found homes
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four feral cat shelters have been built
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Two feral cat traps have been purchased, and
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All remaining cats in the project have been fed on a daily basis.
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This has been made possible through the generous donations and volunteer hours of caring District employees and local citizens.
Multiple studies have proven that a TNR program is the single most successful method of stabilizing and maintaining healthy feral cat colonies. A managed colony keeps other stray cats from coming onto the property and reproducing.
Also, the cost of maintaining a feral cat colony is much cheaper, in addition to being more humane, than extermination of the colony.
Exterminating a feral cat colony allows other stray cats that are unaltered to move onto the property and start the vicious cycle all over again.
Listed below are samples of the many successful college feral cat programs that are run in agreement with the colleges, but are not funded by them:
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Stanford University: Since the implementation of their program in 1989, the number of homeless cats on their campus has declined from an estimated 1500 to approximately 200 cats currently living on the campus.
University of North Texas: When their program began in 1998, there were over 100 cats living on the campus. They now estimate there are 35-45 cats on the campus.
Cal State Bakersfield: Their program began in 1991 with over 75 cats and has now reduced the population to just 8 cats.