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.

County Rescues Address Animal Issues Through Teamwork

Aiken County Animal Advocates

THE VOICE OF PAWS

(Palmetto Animal Welfare Services, Inc.)

By Joya DiStefano


There is a horse standing in a kill pen with a thousand other horses; he is destined for a slaughter house. The abrasion and swelling on his hind leg indicate an infection.

“He’d probably have ended up on someone’s dinner plate anyway,” said Jim Rhodes, executive director of Equine Rescue of Aiken.

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This thoroughbred race horse got lucky, and he is on his way to Haven Hills Farm, home of Equine Rescue.

Last week the SPCA Albrecht Center held the inaugural fundraiser, “Lana-PAW-looza.” It featured a candlelit twilight walk, themed party booths with drinks and food competing for best-in-something; the air filled with live music, and a silent auction was safely housed under-roof. The rain started at walk-registration and dampened the grounds but not the spirit of the walkers. Then the skies opened up right when the party was about to begin. The attendance at this fabulous event had to have taken a hit.

A woman rescues five stray cats, has them all fixed, and five more show up, two obviously pregnant. The woman is on Social Security and is caring for her 94-year-old mother. She is happy to help homeless cats, but they all need to be spayed and neutered before the cat colony is out of control. She calls the Lenny’s Brigade hotline, sponsored by Friends of the Animal Shelter Spay/Neuter Assistance Program (FOTAS/SNAP). A volunteer helps trap the cats and get them fixed at the Albrecht Center’s clinic.

Aiken County, in a public/private partnership with FOTAS, is well on its way to providing the county communities with a true community animal shelter. It is due to open in the next few months as a temporary haven for adoptable animals and a destination for all animal lovers. The drive to move as many dogs and cats out of the current tragically inadequate facility grows ever more urgent as the intake numbers continue to overwhelm adoptions and transfers.

So? Where is the teamwork and why might you care?

Equine Rescue of Aiken has committed to providing two large animal paddocks at the new county shelter. The project is estimated to cost about $15,000; of which Jim has raised $11,000. The paddocks will be girded with no-climb fence so they can serve double duty as dog play yards when unoccupied. But they will also allow the county to impound large animal cruelty cases. Currently there is no facility for the abandoned, starving horses some county residents have to see every day.

Equine Rescue also rescues dogs and cats and gets them fixed at the SPCA Albrecht Center. SPCA Albrecht Center Executive Director Barbara Nelson donated 500 bales of hay to Equine Rescue. Rhodes’ feed and hay bill runs about $2,200 per week. Help covering that expense frees up cash for the new paddocks.

FOTAS is leading an impassioned fundraising drive to fit, furnish and finish the new county shelter, but they also recognize that there is no facility alone that will ever be able to accommodate current intake numbers of unwanted animals. Spay/neuter is the ultimate answer. Thank God, the SPCA is rapidly growing into its capacity to do 12,000 surgeries a year. This, too, takes money, lots of it.

FOTAS/SNAP agreed to help with the Lana-PAW-looza fundraiser on the condition that those funds SNAP raised go to the spay/neuter clinic as a credit. The Albrecht Center agreed, and there is now more than $3,000 in that account. SNAP in Wagener and the Valley are up and running, Windsor is ready to launch, and there is something blossoming in new Ellenton. Go SNAP!

Animal Advocacy is a community project. The major shelters and rescues are leading the way, but success still depends on each and every one of us concerned about animal welfare in our communities. Here are a buffet of ways to help right now:

• If you did not attend Lana-PAW-looza, send $25 to the SPCA Albrecht Center: www.letlovelive.org.

• Join Equine Rescue’s Hay & Feed Drive right now for $10 per month: www.aikenequinerescue.com.

• Buy an honoree paver for the new county shelter: www.fotasaiken.org.

• Send a check for FOTAS/SNAP to P.O. Box 2207, Aiken, SC 29802.

Aiken County is enriched by our domestic animals: horses, dogs and cats. We are their stewards; they depend on us, serve us and teach us about love. There are so many avenues to show them you care. Please choose at least one.

Retired organizational problem-solver and radical educator, Joya Jiménez DiStefano is an artist and servant leader.