For Animal Organizations

Interview with Jan Raven,
Founding Board Member of AzCATs

AzCATs was founded in June of 1999 by Jan Raven, who is currently still active as the Chair of the Board of Directors. The organization has Trapped, Neutered and Returned more than 38,000 free-roaming, primarily feral, cats primarily in Maricopa County, Arizona, and has become a recognized champion of spaying and neutering feral cats. We spoke with Jan to find out why her organization is so successful at helping ferals, and what challenges they have overcome in their goal to end the use of euthanasia as a means of population control for ferals.

Q: Since the founding of AzCATs in 1999, you've become an important part of your county's animal welfare community and a leader in feral cat issues. To what do you owe your success in establishing the organization?

AzCATs truly has become a leader in feral cat issues both locally and at a national level. Over the past few years, AzCATs has been asked to speak nationally on a variety of topics such as building a Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program, program assessment and planning, innovative collaboration, targeted TNR, the impact of feral cats on pet overpopulation, funding and resource allocation, and volunteer management. We continue to lead the way for the feral cat movement here in Maricopa County as well as across the country.

AzCATs has achieved continued success for many reasons. First, we are fiercely loyal to our mission. We focus entirely on TNR of free-roaming, primarily feral, cats mostly in Maricopa County. Second, our flexibility and the organization's ability to adapt to growth and the constant change in the dynamics of our program have allowed us to evolve and remain an important player in our community, and nationally. And of course none of it would be possible without the unwavering support of our volunteers, the animal rescue community, and those members of the public who understand that TNR is the most effective, least costly, humane way of reducing the population of free-roaming cats.

I learned early on that you really always need "just one more thing". By constantly striving to fill that need, we are always moving forward. If we have veterinarian slots going unused, what is the one thing we need to get more cats to fill those slots? More humane traps. If all the available veterinarian slots are full? We need to find another veterinarian.

Q: You have been very successful in building strong working partnerships not only with veterinarians, but also with other animal welfare groups. How have you built those partnerships?

Developing partnerships with other animal welfare groups and private practice veterinarians takes time. It takes relationship building and educating the various groups and veterinarians about the feral cat issue in our community, educating them on effective solutions, and reminding them that their support and participation is key to a successful program.

For private practice veterinarians, working with AzCATs gives them the opportunity to participate in an important mission with a great group of people. Those veterinarians that stay with us year after year are in it because they believe in the mission and understand the critical importance of their contribution. With veterinarians starting a new practice it can be a way to gain experience and to build their business. If they have a new practice we can guarantee them a certain amount of business -- for a volume discount. Veterinarians who want to increase their surgical experience love to work our high volume spay days with other veterinarians where they can perform a significant number of surgeries and learn from their colleagues. We also publicize a list of participating veterinarians periodically and encourage our volunteers and supporters to give them their business.

Word of mouth is the best way to build new relationships with private practice veterinarians. We are very professional with the veterinarians that we work with, and they often help us find other veterinarians to help. We pay our bills, solve problems, and have specific people who answer the phone (cell numbers that are answered) whenever a veterinarian has a question about what to do with a particular cat. We ensure that our policies, procedures, and decision makers are known to the veterinarians.

Starting out it is a good idea to pay up front so that you have an account the veterinarian can draw from – that way they know they will get paid.

I also have the expectation that other animal rescue organizations will give AzCATs veterinarian slots with their veterinarians -- after all feral cats are not just AzCATs' responsibility -- they are the responsibility of the entire community. If their veterinarians have open surgery slots, they can fill them with feral cats.

We also make a concerted effort to help other animal welfare organizations, and frequently volunteer at their events. It is worth remembering that it is harder to say no to a friend. We attend local meetings, whether the meeting is about adoptions, sheltering, or the Maddie's® Pet Rescue Project. We have to be a part of our local animal welfare community and keep the ferals on the agenda. Ferals are all of our responsibility.

It has taken some time, but AzCATs is finally at a point where we have a strong reputation, and a long running track record of success, so other agencies and veterinarian practices are more open to working with us. Each relationship is different and allows for different provisions. The key is finding out how the partnership or relationship can be mutually beneficial and maximizing resources in an effort to achieve a common goal.

Q: How do you determine where you trap?

Mainly we are still reactionary and go where we are called. There are about 350,000 free-roaming cats in Maricopa County, and we have roughly 150 volunteers. Obviously, there is a substantially greater need than we can service. If we go to a location we try to canvas the area for other caregivers. We do work zip codes in conjunction with Maricopa County Animal Care & Control and some other organizations where we target neighborhoods and try to help dogs, tame cats, and ferals all at once. Flyers go out and sometimes volunteers go door to door.

As long as a caregiver has cats they have not caught and are willing to work the colony we will not abandon them. We keep them on a list and try to get them help.

We will not relocate – the numbers are just too vast. We won't send volunteers to try to TNR cats that are not being fed – if you can't stop the food you are much less likely to catch the cats. We will lend traps to people who want to try but we won't waste our volunteer time and effort on unorganized projects with little likelihood of success.

Q: What have been your biggest challenges, and how did you overcome them?

We experience the same administrative challenges as most nonprofits, including an increased demand for our services but a deficiency in the resources to meet those demands. However, we have continued to be innovative in our approach to meeting the community's need for our program, constantly challenging ourselves to find ways to meet the increasing demand for TNR.

We rely heavily on our collaborations with local spay/neuter clinics, veterinary practices, and other rescue groups to help us provide the surgical appointments necessary for the sterilization piece of our TNR program. We also rely on the subsidized surgeries or discounted rates which are a part of these on-going collaborations.

Another challenge, that is a bit more difficult to address, has been to change attitudes of the public and local rescue groups regarding cat overpopulation in our community. Unfortunately in this county we are still approaching the overpopulation issue from a reactive position. In order to truly have an impact on the number of animals living on our city streets, entering the shelters, and being euthanized we need to take a proactive approach, which includes an aggressive spay/neuter program for dogs, cats, and ferals.

One of our greatest strengths – staying focused on our mission – is actually a big challenge as well. It is critical not to try to be all things to all people. There is a lot of push and pull from volunteers, and the public, to do what they want you to do – relocation, taming kittens, or holding adoptions, for example. We constantly have to remind people that AzCATs does one thing and one thing only trap, neuter, return. We refer people to other organizations but there is always a battle not to become bogged down or veer off mission.

It is also interesting how advocating for feral cats sometimes puts you at odds with more traditional animal rescue organizations and even with yourself. Mandatory spay/neuter laws and leash laws can be used against feral cat caregivers. Bans on feeding wildlife can be used against caregivers. Ferals are constantly forgotten when people are planning. You have to really immerse yourself, question everything, and fight thorough the inconsistencies and incompatibilities in your own opinions and philosophy – the nature of the work is a tough intellectual exercise.

Q: What advice would you give to other communities that are struggling to address their feral cat populations?

For organizations that have gotten started, and are struggling to make an impact, I would encourage them to revisit the basics. Review the following and make sure their efforts are focused and as efficient as possible.

• What is your mission and vision for the organization?