Feline Non-Profit Asks For a Helping Paw

FixNation, a Los Angeles-based non-profit group devoted to ending feline homelessness by offering free spay/neuter services to caregivers of community cats, has announced that operations will be drastically reduced if a fundraising goal of $500,000 is not met by March 2012.

Through a program that promotes and furthers the community-based method of homeless cat population control known as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), FixNation sterilizes more than 70 cats each day and will have successfully trapped, neutered and returned 80,000 cats by the summer of 2012. To date, there are 7,076 volunteer trappers and caregivers that have embraced FixNation and contributed to these results.

With financial support from a major donor, FixNation was launched in July 2007, but that five year start-up grant has ended and officials within the organization say they’re on the verge of having to dramatically cut back operations in 2012.

“The shame of this is that we are making a huge impact, yet we have so much more work to do,” said Karn Myers, co-founder of FixNation. “Our charity needs support in order to continue. Assembling all known TNR resources under one roof and applying them to the problem on a massive, full-time scale is something very few other organizations can do.”

FixNation hopes to serve as a working model for other organizations to follow by demonstrating the effectiveness of TNR in a large urban environment. Through the free feral program, FixNation provides the community with information about the Trap-Neuter-Return method.  In addition, FixNation provides services above and beyond the typical homeless feline spay/neuter clinic such as antibiotics, fluids, pain medication, vaccines and flea treatments, all of which are performed free of charge for animals with no caregivers. The organization also provides reduced rate spay/neuter surgery for cats and kittens of low-income families, which is a critical component to reducing the homeless cat population.

FixNation remains booked with spay/neuter appointments and volunteer trap training for weeks in advance. While performing surgery on nearly 18,000 cats each year, there continues to be a critical need for this service.  With an estimated one million homeless cats in Los Angeles alone, FixNation and the communities committed to helping these cats through TNR need the time and support to show its effectiveness in dramatically reducing the feral cat population. Slowing operations due to a financial shortfall will have a negative impact in Los Angeles and the progress made so far.

You can help support FixNation by writing a post on your blog, following them on Twitter or "liking" their Facebook Page.  And of course, you can visit their website to make a financial contribution.