Posted: Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Driving
onto County Commissioner Robin Quillen's property, several four-legged
creatures greet her as she pulls into her garage and steps out of her
red Jeep.
A few of them sat nestled in the shelves on heated blankets, with another sitting on top of a large 25-pound bag of cat food. She tells them all hello by name as she walks into the house.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I could even know them by their meow," Quillen said, laughing.
Litter
boxes are strategically placed, along with heated water bowls, in the
enclosed garage. But those eight or so are just a snapshot of an
estimated 350 cats that roam her property freely.
"All of these cats get food and water, and all of them are fixed," she said. "People ask if I am scared they are going to run away. Why would they? They get what they want every day, and that includes treats."
Feral Friends of Greene County Inc. is Quillen's nonprofit organization, set up to care for and save any cat that has ever been abandoned, along with controlling the population by ensuring they are spayed or neutered.
She accepts donations. One of her largest supporters is the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Mosheim, which provides her with pounds of cat food and a mix of treats.
"That's what Ryan want's right now," she said as a black and brown-stripped cat rubs up against her glass door. "He wants some treats."
Quillen reaches for a bag of treats, and opens the door onto a side porch, scattering handfuls of treats for about a dozen or so cats that hear the bag rattling. She also fundraises year-round, with her most recent attempt sitting on her dinning room table. Yellow ribbons and cellophane wrappers sit with chocolate bunnies filled inside, which she is selling just in time for Easter. "Everyone asks me if I get grants, and I say, 'Are you kidding me?'" she said. "We do anything to make a buck for them."
Taking
care of the cats requires about three hours of work per day after
filling each bowl with clean water and food, cleaning out litter boxes
and finding dirty blankets.
Once a week, she also does what she dubs as "cat laundry," which means she washes all the blankets to keep them sanitary and bleaches her driveway.
She has also outfitted small chicken coops with cat trees and blankets for the cats to live in if they so choose. Some of her cats live in a barn on her property, and some choose to stay close to the house.
But regardless of location, Quillen said they have all found their niche on her property. "It's weird, but once they get here, they find a place they like and stay with that group of cats," she said. "They won't really go anywhere else."
Each cat also has its own story, and Quillen knows them each by heart. One
cat, Hailey, was thrown out of car window and broke her pelvis. She
hides under Quillen's bed a lot of the time. Another cat, Petie, the one
she's had the longest, has a limp back leg full of small bullet
fragments. "They are all my cats," she said, petting her cats Tara and Bubba. "This obviously takes a crazy person to do."
She understands that some may think it strange to keep hundreds of feral cats around, including some that are not adoptable. "I just couldn't stand the thought of an animal dying," she said. "That's why I do this. I just love animals, and every one of them deserves a bowl of food or a blanket to sleep on."
To make donations to Quillen's organization, visit feralfriendsofgreenecounty.org.
source
A few of them sat nestled in the shelves on heated blankets, with another sitting on top of a large 25-pound bag of cat food. She tells them all hello by name as she walks into the house.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I could even know them by their meow," Quillen said, laughing.
Litter
boxes are strategically placed, along with heated water bowls, in the
enclosed garage. But those eight or so are just a snapshot of an
estimated 350 cats that roam her property freely."All of these cats get food and water, and all of them are fixed," she said. "People ask if I am scared they are going to run away. Why would they? They get what they want every day, and that includes treats."
Feral Friends of Greene County Inc. is Quillen's nonprofit organization, set up to care for and save any cat that has ever been abandoned, along with controlling the population by ensuring they are spayed or neutered.
She accepts donations. One of her largest supporters is the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Mosheim, which provides her with pounds of cat food and a mix of treats.
"That's what Ryan want's right now," she said as a black and brown-stripped cat rubs up against her glass door. "He wants some treats."
Quillen reaches for a bag of treats, and opens the door onto a side porch, scattering handfuls of treats for about a dozen or so cats that hear the bag rattling. She also fundraises year-round, with her most recent attempt sitting on her dinning room table. Yellow ribbons and cellophane wrappers sit with chocolate bunnies filled inside, which she is selling just in time for Easter. "Everyone asks me if I get grants, and I say, 'Are you kidding me?'" she said. "We do anything to make a buck for them."
Taking
care of the cats requires about three hours of work per day after
filling each bowl with clean water and food, cleaning out litter boxes
and finding dirty blankets.Once a week, she also does what she dubs as "cat laundry," which means she washes all the blankets to keep them sanitary and bleaches her driveway.
She has also outfitted small chicken coops with cat trees and blankets for the cats to live in if they so choose. Some of her cats live in a barn on her property, and some choose to stay close to the house.
But regardless of location, Quillen said they have all found their niche on her property. "It's weird, but once they get here, they find a place they like and stay with that group of cats," she said. "They won't really go anywhere else."
Each cat also has its own story, and Quillen knows them each by heart. One
cat, Hailey, was thrown out of car window and broke her pelvis. She
hides under Quillen's bed a lot of the time. Another cat, Petie, the one
she's had the longest, has a limp back leg full of small bullet
fragments. "They are all my cats," she said, petting her cats Tara and Bubba. "This obviously takes a crazy person to do."She understands that some may think it strange to keep hundreds of feral cats around, including some that are not adoptable. "I just couldn't stand the thought of an animal dying," she said. "That's why I do this. I just love animals, and every one of them deserves a bowl of food or a blanket to sleep on."
To make donations to Quillen's organization, visit feralfriendsofgreenecounty.org.
source
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