On the Twenty-eighth Day of Christmas,
look what came to Rikki’s,
twenty eight ferocious fanging ferals,
And yes, they have all arrived with fangs and claws at the ready. But can you blame them?
Of the almost 1,300 animals that live at Rikki’s Refuge, almost half of them are cats, and of those, almost 400 of them are feral cats.
Why do so many live at Rikki’s Refuge? It seems feral cats are an animal that few humans think have the right to live. When they end up in shelters and rescues, they are usually killed cus no one will adopt them. Not very kind or compassionate hoomans think ferals are a nuisance because they want to eat. Isn’t that awful? If only everyone who wanted a hungry feral gone, instead just had the kindness and compassion to take a few minutes and feed them … better yet TNR them, what a great world we’d have.
Do you know what TNR is? Trap, Neuter, Return. It’s wonderful when feral cats can live in managed colonies. here they are fed, often given housing, and best of all they are “fixed”, speutered, spayed or neutered so they are now producing more and more kittens. It’s simple. It’s kind. It’s the best thing possible for feral cats.
We have a division called Wild and Feral that operates out of Pulaski helping the people there to set up TNR programs and get feral cats speutered and providing education to kind hoomans who want to help in other areas.
If TNR is the best thing for a feral cat, why do so many end up at Rikki’s Refuge? Well not everybody understands, nor do they have compassion for non-human creatures, sometimes not even for creatures of their own species. People trap ferals and take them to kill shelters. The lucky ones end up at Rikki’s Refuge.
Sometimes wonderful people have been caring for a feral colony and something unexpected happens; the city passes a rule that they can’t feed ferals and they will be poisoned or trapped and killed; the site of the colony is being developed and an abandoned building or lot is being bulldozed and the cats will be harmed; someone moves or dies and left behind the feral colony the were feeding on their property. And those colony cats have to move.
But where to? There are not many options for a group of 10 or 20 or 40 feral cats to find a new home. Moving cats to a different feral colony has little success. Cats are territorial and it takes time to adjust. Meanwhile they try to get back home, often being killed by vehicles, or trapped and taken to kill shelters when they stop somewhere for a bite to eat.
So the lucky ones come to Rikki’s Refuge.
It’s hard for them. It’s scary. Trapped, transported, caged for quarantine, medicated, wormed, checked out, and then settled in a big cat house. Our feral cat houses are like mini barns with large 2,000 sq ft outdoor protected areas to play and lay in the sun. It can take a little bit of time, but they soon learn no one will hurt them here. They make friends with the other cats in their house. About 40 live in each house. We never break up a family or a colony.
We respect ferals and their wish to not associate with hoomans. They’ll run and hiss at us when we’re checking up on them, feeding them and cleaning their homes. But over time they get used to us, and they might opt to go to the far end of the house, they no longer run in fear. Some will circle our legs burring and talking, some will let us pat them, will every enjoy being picked up. But that’s all ok. At Rikki’s Refuge it’s about the animals, not the hoomans, we’re just here to serve them!
There are more and more kind humans and business owners realizing the benefit of a well managed feral colony. Natural rodent control for one. Simple compassion for other living beings for another. And this is one way the planet is becoming more kind and more loving thru the work done by feral cat colony managers and their education of the public.
And so on our final day of Christmas, lets recap
On the Twenty-eighth Day of Christmas,
look what came to Rikki’s,
twenty eight ferocious fanging ferals,
twenty seven versatile volunteers,
twenty six dogs a drooling,
twenty five delightful donors,
twenty four plump pigs a plundering,
twenty three goats a butting,
twenty two sheep in need of sheering,
twenty one chickens a cackling,
twenty puppies a pooping,
nineteen rebellious roosters,
eighteen litter challenged kitties,
seventeen emus escaping,
sixteen dangerous ducklings,
fifteen peaceful pigeons,
fourteen peacocks plotting,
thirteen humans helping,
twelve temperamental turkeys,
eleven pouting pussies,
ten crotchety creaking canines,
nine grumpy geese,
eight kicking kittens,
seven guinea fowl freeloading,
six lizards a lazing,
five guinea pigs a gnawing,
four elderly equines,
three burly bossy bovines,
two rabbits a mating,
and a chukar in a cherry tree.
Rikki’s Refuge very much needs your year end tax deductible contribution to keep the refuge running next year, we need your help to care for our residents and to help others who’ll need us in 2024. Please consider a generous year end donation. For some of you $1 may be generous, for some $50, and a very few $1,000. What ever you can spare to help the animals, you’ll have 1,287 animals who appreciate you more than you will ever know.
You can donate on line by going to our website
https://RikkisRefuge.org/donate
or by mailing a check
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
or the site of your choice
Paypal https://paypal.me/RikkisRefuge
Paypal mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Square https://RR-square.shorturl.com
Venmo Rikki’s Refuge
Zelle mail@RikkisRefuge.org
THANK YOU FOR HELPING US!!!
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