Press Room

Never Before Have So Many Feral Cats
Been Fixed in So Little Time

(Alameda, CA-August 2001) In the animal welfare movement, spaying and neutering 100,000 feral cats* in two years is like landing a man on the moon.

What was once considered impossible has now been achieved thanks to the California Veterinary Medical Association, 1,042 veterinarians located throughout California and a $5.6 million grant from a family foundation called Maddie's Fund.

Feral cats from Eureka to Escondido have been spayed and neutered through the California Veterinary Medical Association's (CVMA) Feral Cat Altering Program (FCAP), which recruits private practice veterinarians to alter feral cats brought to them by community feral cat caregivers. The surgery is free to the caregivers; the doctors are reimbursed an average of $50 per surgery by CVMA. After the cats are spayed or neutered, they're returned to the caregiver who releases the cat back to his former habitat.

CVMA's pioneering FCAP program offers a unique new model for humanely controlling feral cat populations and subsequently decreasing the large numbers of cats euthanized in animals shelters each year.

Many communities across the nation have always had heroic partnerships of veterinarians and feral cat caregivers who work tirelessly on shoestring budgets to perform this important surgery for feral cats. But the huge infusion of money from Maddie's Fund channeled to veterinarians through the nation's largest state Veterinary Medical Association has enabled the entire state of California to mobilize and achieve a heretofore unimagined result.

"Our hats are off to the California Veterinary Medical Association and the 1,042 doctors who have made this life-affirming work possible," states Maddie's Fund Veterinary Consultant, Dr. Laurie Peek.


The California Veterinary Medical Association's Feral Cat Altering Program began in July 1999. To follow the county by county progress of the FCAP Program, log on to the Maddie's Fund website at www.maddiesfund.org and go to Funded Projects or visit the CVMA website at www.cvma.net.


About Maddie's Fund: Maddie's Fund is an independent, animal rescue foundation whose mission is to revolutionize the status and well-being of companion animals. It began in 1994 through the generosity of Cheryl and Dave Duffield, PeopleSoft Co-Founder and Chairman. The goal of Maddie's Fund is to help build programs nationwide that guarantee loving homes for all healthy, adoptable shelter dogs and cats.

FCAP's Top Five:

• Dr. James Sharp, North Hollywod -- 3,524 surgeries
  
• Dr. James Haubert, Van Nuys -- 2,886 surgeries
  
• Dr. James Murphy, Sebastopol -- 2,057 surgeries
  
• Dr. Richard Herbert, Stockton -- 1,829 surgeries
  
• Dr. Robert Anderson, Fortuna -- 1,474 surgeries

*Feral cats: Feral cats are wild and semi-wild felines who live their lives in alleyways, parking lots, backyards and parks. They range from cats who have never had human contact to those who were once pets.