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Our History
In
1992, a few people working on the Portland waterfront noticed a group of
about a dozen cats and kittens waiting for food every day outside of a restaurant that had recently
moved. One woman began feeding them.
Several people then began to help trap, neuter, and
vaccinate the cats, returning
them to their colonies, where they had shelter and were fed every day. The
kittens and friendly cats were worked with in foster homes until they
became adoptable. Within a couple of years, nearly 50 waterfront cats and
kittens had been neutered and returned or placed in permanent homes.
The success of the effort led to the idea to form a group that would aid
feral cats — undomesticated cats born "in the wild", or outside
of homes — in the Greater Portland area. In January 1993, a dozen people
met at a restaurant and formed the "Friends of Feral Felines."
The stated goals were to help feral cats by neutering and returning them to
established colonies, taming kittens for placement, and finding barns of other
sanctuary for unadoptable adults who had to be relocated.
In the past 14 years, we have fulfilled these goals and come to the
aid of approximately 300 feral cats each year throughout southern Maine.
Our membership has grown from several people to over 100 active
volunteers and a mailing list of over 1,000 supporters. We have gone from
sitting around at a table with just pamphlets and a few photos to becoming
a non-profit organization with an office in Portland and a network of veterinarians in Cumberland and York Counties who
are a vital resource in our work. Donations are tax-deductible, and they
come from all over New England and the United States.
The work has been endless, heartbreaking and inspiring all at once. Each
week we are called to aid mothers, kittens and homeless feral cats that
have been abandoned or born in the wild, everywhere from camps is Sebago
Lake to farms in Newfield to backyards in Portland. We answer each call
because FOFF is the only group in Maine devoted solely to the cause of
feral cats. Shelters, overflowing with domestic cats, often must euthanize
ferals. No-kill shelters have limited space for unadoptables. For most
adult ferals the best response
is to neuter them and allow them to remain in their established colonies,
or relocate them to safe barns with cat lovers.
Working to achieve our goals involves thousands of donated hours yearly in
trapping, fostering, feeding, phone work and fundraising. It also involves
continuous veterinary bills, as almost every cat gets the "full"
treatment - feline leukemia and FIV testing, spaying or neutering and
vaccinations. Because most of our cats are not adoptable, we cannot recoup
these expenses in adoption fees. We spay or neuter every cat before adoption,
recognizing the seriousness of the cat overpopulation crisis. Veterinary
expenses and cat care comprise over eighty percent of our annual expenses.
To meet our expenses, we hold yard sales, bake sales, plant sales, book
sales, fundraisers at restaurants such as Uno's, O'Natural's, and Flatbread
Baking Co., and we sell merchandise at various stores that support our
efforts and at cat shows. We also ask committed cat lovers to help us out
with donations in any amount possible. We offer a line of merchandise featuring
our heart-tugging mother/kitten logo on sweatshirts, tee's, mugs, aprons
and book bags. Click here to check out our wares.
FOFF is an all-volunteer organization that depends on your support to allow
us to continue to help Maine's most needy and neglected cats. People
regularly tell us "I called several places, and no one would help us
but you!" We want to continue to be there to end the suffering of
feral cats by stabilizing colonies and finding homes for adoptable, rescued
cats and kittens. And we will be, with your generous support. |
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