Lenny’s Brigade: a Better Way for Community Cats

Aiken County Animal Advocates

THE VOICE OF PAWS

(Palmetto Animal Welfare Services, Inc.)

By Joya DiStefano

She found the skeletal white and brown tabby kitten in the middle of a four-lane highway in Lancaster County.  An upper respiratory infection had clotted his eyes, blinding him.  He let her lift him.  She wiped his eyes, cleared his nose, and stopped at a Dollar General for a can of cat food and a small bowl. He ate, groomed his face and paws, and lay down on the dashboard for a nap while she drove back to Aiken.  He rallied for about two days in the care of this retired cat veterinarian, and then he crashed. When it looked hopeless, she put him to sleep as he lay in her lap.  His name was Lenny.

Lenny inspired Dr. Kathy Bissell to yield to the urging of a colleague and do something about the plight of community cats in South Carolina, her new home.  That initiative became Lenny’s Brigade, a small dedicated advocacy group helping residents of Aiken County take more effective, humane approaches to unowned, outdoor-living felines, AKA “community cats.”

Shelter intake and euthanasia represent two of the ugliest numbers faced by animal advocates in Aiken County.  One of the largest contributors to these relentless demoralizing statistics are unowned cats.  Across the country you will find the same problem, shelter euthanasia rates have fallen dramatically, but the gains are almost entirely on the dog side of the equation.  Look at the vision FOTAS has brought to our new County Animal Shelter – to never have to euthanize an adoptable pet.  Yet even the FOTAS in Jackson County, Oregon (the original model for our Aiken FOTAS), who claim to have achieved that goal, will admit, “That is, if you don’t count cats.” Perhaps, when it comes to cats, the term “adoptable” is the heart of the problem.  Community cats are already “home.”

Here are some little known facts related to our feline friends and neighbors when it comes to shelter programs:
·       More than 75% percent of Americans believe that only sick or dangerous animals should be euthanized at shelters;
·       In most US communities there is no legal mandate to impound every unowned cat;
·       The population of unowned cats exceeds that of those with homes;
·       More than 50% of all cats have to be euthanized and 75% have to be altered to impact the overall population;
·       Cats are more likely to be returned to owners or adopted to new homes by means other than a shelter;
·       The vast majority of stray and unowned cats are healthy; AND,
·       Cats are the only species for which it is routinely argued that in the cat’s interest a certain death today is preferable to a possible future hazard.

Cats are amazing, resourceful creatures that have evolved to be able to straddle nature’s challenges and man’s ingenuity.  They make delightful and endearing pets, and can thrive in the wild where they find shelter and a food source.  Picking them up and killing them serves no useful purpose, and that is where our Lenny’s Brigade enters the picture.

Lenny’s Brigade is a public charity initiative.  Lenny’s Brigade addresses county resident concerns with community cat colonies, like the one at the Wagener Feed Store, or the one behind the New Ellenton Post Office, on a small farm in Windsor, and behind Kalmia Plaza.  Lenny’s Brigade volunteers help “colony sponsors,” (citizens providing food, shelter, or even spay/neuter surgeries to unowned cats) bring colony numbers under control.  Through a national policy initiative called TNR (trap-neuter-return), cats are treated and returned to their “home” colony.  In barely one year, under the passionate leadership of Dr. Kathy Bissell, Lenny’s Brigade has altered 160 community cats.  With public awareness, and support for leading edge public policy regarding these cats, our county can lower our shelter euthanasia rate, and elevate our humanity. Lenny’s Brigade hotline: (803) 507-6315. Dr. Kathy Bissell is a Servant Leader.


Joya DiStefano is a retired organizational problem-solver and radical educator, Joya DiStefano is a local Servant Leader, writer, and artist who lives with eleven dogs, one amazing cat, and a husband who is a saint.