Saturday, October 8, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Winter Feral Cat Shelters
It's getting colder in Atlanta! Last Tuesday, a group of seven AWA members built five winter cat shelters for the feral cats who live on our campus. We started from plastic containers and bales of hay, and built a group of sturdy, insulated, weatherproof shelters for the cats living in the Greek Sector of campus (and possibly in other areas of campus too). We used the template from this website http://www.urbancatleague.org/Shelters.html to make the shelters, and then added a few ideas of our own. They were even decorated!
Here's a picture of the finished shelters:
And here's a picture of our volunteers (minus one!) standing in front:
top: Jordan
bottom: MC. Michael, Katie, Amanda, Michael
behind the camera: Rob
They looked awesome! We've already put three of them out on campus, and have seen cats in all of them! Way to go guys!
And here's a picture of our volunteers (minus one!) standing in front:
top: Jordan
bottom: MC. Michael, Katie, Amanda, Michael
behind the camera: Rob
They looked awesome! We've already put three of them out on campus, and have seen cats in all of them! Way to go guys!
Our Amazing Fall Speakers
We had two awesome speakers come and talk to us this semester. The first was Kate Trahan from the Atlanta Chapter of the Coalition to Unchain Dogs! She talked to us about the how the program works by gaining the trust of pet owners in a community, getting to know their pets, and then working with the owners to build fences and unchain their dogs! This program creates a better life for a dog living on the end of a chain, and provides a less stressful environment for the pet owner (because happy dog = happy owner). Unfortunately we don't have any pictures from Kate's visit, but we hope to get involved with the Coalition next semester and get some pictures up then! The website is http://unchaindogs.net/chapter_atlanta.shtml if you want to check it out!
Our second speaker was Devon Brooks from the Humane Society of Northwest Georgia, who talked to us about the use of rottweilers as therapy dogs, and about the SAFER assessment program for animal evaluation. Devon uses the SAFER assessment to re-evaluate and train dogs in shelters to give them a better chance of being adopted. Devon also talked about her two rottweilers, Cira and Malley, and their participation as therapy dogs. Cira and Malley go to hospitals to help lift the spirits of medical patients, and go to schools to help children overcome their fear of reading.
Some of the AWA members just HAD to get a picture with these cute girls!
A big thanks to both Kate and Devon for taking the time to educate the members of the Animal Welfare Association about programs in our community!
Our second speaker was Devon Brooks from the Humane Society of Northwest Georgia, who talked to us about the use of rottweilers as therapy dogs, and about the SAFER assessment program for animal evaluation. Devon uses the SAFER assessment to re-evaluate and train dogs in shelters to give them a better chance of being adopted. Devon also talked about her two rottweilers, Cira and Malley, and their participation as therapy dogs. Cira and Malley go to hospitals to help lift the spirits of medical patients, and go to schools to help children overcome their fear of reading.
Here are the precious Cira and Malley!
Some of the AWA members just HAD to get a picture with these cute girls!
A big thanks to both Kate and Devon for taking the time to educate the members of the Animal Welfare Association about programs in our community!Monday, November 29, 2010
HOWL-o-ween!!
Last month we had our first annual HOWL-o-ween event on Skiles Walkway!
Thanks to everyone who donated and came out to help. We had a great turnout and had lots of fun raising money and awareness about the animals in our community.
Thanks to everyone who donated and came out to help. We had a great turnout and had lots of fun raising money and awareness about the animals in our community.
And here is our table decked out with baked goodies for sale! We raised over $130!
And we had two amazing doggie guests in cute Halloween costumes! Here's Elmer (Amanda's doggie) as a football:
And here's Shiva (Steven's doggie) as a butterfly!
They were WAY too adorable. Here are some of our awesome volunteers!Thanks for all your help guys!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Support Tech's Ferals!
SUPPORT GEORGIA TECH'S FERAL CAT POPULATION!
Sign this petition and let your voice be heard!
Sign this petition and let your voice be heard!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
AWA Official Statement
Below is our official statement to the GT administration about the new plan to remove the on campus feeder stations and feral cat population...
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April 27, 2010
Dear Capital Planning and Space Management,
The Animal Welfare Association (AWA) has recently learned of the proposal to remove the feral cat population and their feeding stations from campus as part of the Master Landscaping Plan. The AWA—Georgia Tech’s only student organization dedicated to animal welfare—is alarmed about this and actively opposed to the policy.
The maintenance of feral cat colonies through established feeding stations and the practice of trap-neuter-return (TNR) has been widely recognized by organizations such as the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States as the most effective, efficient, and safe way to deal with the problem of feral felines. If feeding stations for established colonies are (re)moved, this will not remove the problem. When a stable, vaccinated, and sterilized population is moved, other feral cats can and likely will move in on the territory, breeding a new generation of cats and possibly even introducing diseases into a previously healthy population.
The root of the feral cat problem on the Georgia Tech campus, and nationwide, is twofold. First, some individuals acquire cats that they do not spay or neuter, and then let those cats roam freely. Second, other individuals may “dump” their cats when they are no longer wanted. This problem is particularly acute on college campuses, where many cats are left behind as students return home for the summer or graduate and move. While education on the Tech campus and in the surrounding community as well as access to low-cost spay/neuter programs can begin to curb some of these practices, they will not eliminate all feral cats. Beyond education, TNR is the only reliable, healthy, and economically viable option for this problem.
While removing the feeding stations may fit with the larger aesthetic plan for the campus, it could lead to detrimental outcomes. Monitoring the cats’ health, as well as assessing any newcomers to the colonies (including trapping and sterilizing them) would be virtually impossible. If the current cats were moved, the newly unoccupied territory could become quickly overpopulated with unsterilized and/or unhealthy animals, possibly introducing diseases such as feline leukemia or FIV. The progress that has been made over the last 15 years in reducing the size of the feral cat population from approximately 180 to 45 would be quickly undone.
The feeding stations on campus are crucial to the well being of the cats on campus—as well as human health. In fact, the cats on campus reduce the rodent population in many areas of campus, thereby reducing one possible vector of disease. Most people on campus are unaware of the feeding stations, as they are in remote locations, hidden from view. The stations allow us to monitor the arrival of new cats and ensure that they are sterilized and vaccinated. They provide us with optimal locations to set up traps to continue our spay/neuter program. If the cats do not have access to feeding stations, they will start going through trash and scavenging from dumpsters and houses on campus. This would lead to both health and aesthetic problems. Most importantly, the problem of feral cats on campus would get worse, not improve.
Removing the feeding stations and the feral cats from the Georgia Tech campus would disrupt the current balance in the cat population and invite more problems. The Animal Welfare Association is dedicated to the well being and survival of these cats, as well as the health and safety of all of those who work and study on the Georgia Tech campus. We hope to work with you in any way necessary to resolve this issue. Thank you for your prompt assistance with this matter.
Sincerely,
– President, Animal Welfare Association
Mary Courtney Delvin - President-Elect, Animal Welfare Association
Dr. Amy D’Unger - Faculty Adviser, Animal Welfare Association
----------------------------------------------------------------
April 27, 2010
Dear Capital Planning and Space Management,
The Animal Welfare Association (AWA) has recently learned of the proposal to remove the feral cat population and their feeding stations from campus as part of the Master Landscaping Plan. The AWA—Georgia Tech’s only student organization dedicated to animal welfare—is alarmed about this and actively opposed to the policy.
The maintenance of feral cat colonies through established feeding stations and the practice of trap-neuter-return (TNR) has been widely recognized by organizations such as the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States as the most effective, efficient, and safe way to deal with the problem of feral felines. If feeding stations for established colonies are (re)moved, this will not remove the problem. When a stable, vaccinated, and sterilized population is moved, other feral cats can and likely will move in on the territory, breeding a new generation of cats and possibly even introducing diseases into a previously healthy population.
The root of the feral cat problem on the Georgia Tech campus, and nationwide, is twofold. First, some individuals acquire cats that they do not spay or neuter, and then let those cats roam freely. Second, other individuals may “dump” their cats when they are no longer wanted. This problem is particularly acute on college campuses, where many cats are left behind as students return home for the summer or graduate and move. While education on the Tech campus and in the surrounding community as well as access to low-cost spay/neuter programs can begin to curb some of these practices, they will not eliminate all feral cats. Beyond education, TNR is the only reliable, healthy, and economically viable option for this problem.
While removing the feeding stations may fit with the larger aesthetic plan for the campus, it could lead to detrimental outcomes. Monitoring the cats’ health, as well as assessing any newcomers to the colonies (including trapping and sterilizing them) would be virtually impossible. If the current cats were moved, the newly unoccupied territory could become quickly overpopulated with unsterilized and/or unhealthy animals, possibly introducing diseases such as feline leukemia or FIV. The progress that has been made over the last 15 years in reducing the size of the feral cat population from approximately 180 to 45 would be quickly undone.
The feeding stations on campus are crucial to the well being of the cats on campus—as well as human health. In fact, the cats on campus reduce the rodent population in many areas of campus, thereby reducing one possible vector of disease. Most people on campus are unaware of the feeding stations, as they are in remote locations, hidden from view. The stations allow us to monitor the arrival of new cats and ensure that they are sterilized and vaccinated. They provide us with optimal locations to set up traps to continue our spay/neuter program. If the cats do not have access to feeding stations, they will start going through trash and scavenging from dumpsters and houses on campus. This would lead to both health and aesthetic problems. Most importantly, the problem of feral cats on campus would get worse, not improve.
Removing the feeding stations and the feral cats from the Georgia Tech campus would disrupt the current balance in the cat population and invite more problems. The Animal Welfare Association is dedicated to the well being and survival of these cats, as well as the health and safety of all of those who work and study on the Georgia Tech campus. We hope to work with you in any way necessary to resolve this issue. Thank you for your prompt assistance with this matter.
Sincerely,
– President, Animal Welfare Association
Mary Courtney Delvin - President-Elect, Animal Welfare Association
Dr. Amy D’Unger - Faculty Adviser, Animal Welfare Association
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