TRACS celebrates new cat quarters

It is said that cats are connoisseurs of comfort. If so, a new cat abode will likely be known as "the cat's meow."

Thompson River Animal Care Shelter (TRACS) suffered a blow when the building housing felines caught fire last year. Although insurance kicked in to help, it wasn't nearly enough to cover the logistics of caring for the cats at a separate location and the additional wrenches thrown in the routines of staff and volunteers at the shelter. With fundraising down for the year, TRACS president Wanda Thorpe was delighted when a good deal was found on a new building for the cats.

"It turned out to be a win-win, since the seller couldn't build a new house on his property until that modular was out of the way," shared Thorpe, who added that the building was in great shape, with nearly new carpet and a few free furnishings that came along for the tow from the local location on Guy Hall Road.

Judging from the stain job on the exterior, some might say this find is too high-end for cats, but it's likely the cats will find the domicile just perfect. The two-bedroom, one master bedroom shelter boasts 400 more square feet than the old structure, for a total of 1,800 square feet of cat care. There will be one kitten room, as well as space for new intake processing and quarantine. Similar to the old building, this one will eventually have fenced deck areas, so the animals can have access to the outdoors for sunning or playing in the snow.

Nearly unused appliances inside brought up a topic, which Thorpe said hasn't been made public until now.

"We are actively looking for an onsite, live-in manager to take over the human living quarters within the cat building," said Thorpe, noting that it had always felt strange to lock up for the evening and leave the dogs and cats on premises without an overseeing human to keep them company. "We are looking for candidates with management experience who have a love for animals, especially cats – since they'll be sharing quarters with them."

In the past, a staff member or volunteer would have to come back to TRACS after hours to administer night-time medications, check on the sick ones and give the property a look around. Thorpe said having someone on-site will also save the shelter on security systems that had been considered, as well as deterring the problem of night-time human visitors dropping unwanted animals over the fence for volunteers to find and wrangle in the morning.

A new foundation had to be poured for the structure, as well as hauling it in and setting it up. After that and other related expenses, Thorpe said that with the insurance compensation, TRACS might have broken even financially on the original building's loss. Thorpe shared that the dogs and their area have received plenty of extra attention throughout all the cat-herding.

"The dogs are doing great, we have plenty coming and going and we're almost always full to capacity," said Thorpe. "We are looking forward to a round of lab-mix puppies this week and expect those will find homes rather quickly." She clarified that although the new cat house would be up and running, they will not be able to take any cats right away. They will be full, and since adult cats are always a struggle to find homes for, some will need to be transferred to other shelters to make room for litters of kittens that will undoubtedly be showing up in the coming months. The kittens are rarely an effort to find homes for, since their cuteness basically sell themselves.

Thorpe said the transition time between cat buildings has been doable, but with fundraising season here she isn't sure what to do as the last few fundraisers cost TRACS money.

"Honestly, lately the most effective form of fundraising has been soliciting donations via emails," said Thorpe, who misses the fanfare of the successful variety shows of the past, wild west shows, and the elegant wine tasting events that created revenue and provided a good time, "The interest just doesn't seem to be there anymore. There's no way to predict how successful a fundraiser will be, but the risk of losing money from an event seems to be growing." Thorpe mentioned that a yard sale might be in the works, but she is really trying to read and hear from the community about what they'd like to see, "Maybe we just need some fresh ideas to our approach, I'd love to hear people's ideas on that."

The need for funding at TRACS is on the rise. Last year the shelter adopted out 703 animals to new homes. This year, TRACS is already on track to beat that number. In her 12 years running TRACS, Thorpe has seen more than 8,000 dogs and cats find a home (even a few birds, hamsters and horses) and the neuter or spaying of nearly as many.

"We are proud of the work we do to help animals, and community support through adoption or donation is so appreciated," Thorpe said. "We couldn't do what we do without that kind of help."

For more information about helping TRACS through donation, employment or volunteering, call 827-8722.