FAWG -Fallon Animal Welfare Group is purrfect!

by Kathleen Williams-Miller -- This past week while walking around the neighborhood, I noticed a sleek black cat poised near a mass of weeds in the field. Before I could blink the cat sprang onto her prey. She was poetry in motion. I wondered where she lived but I suspected she was a feral cat. I had attended a lecture about cats at the Churchill County Museum so I reviewed the information that FAWG (Fallon Welfare Group) had provided. Instead of taking homeless cats to the pound, where they will be euthanized, they are trapped, spayed/neutered, given shots (rabies), tagged and returned to their outdoor home. FAWG’s mission is to eliminate cat overpopulation. Michele Ippolito, the founder of FAWG, has retired, and relocated after many years of service to our community but her dream lives on. We thank her for establishing FAWG and her dedication to our cats. Cat overpopulation is a worldwide problem. In the United States alone there are 860,000 cats euthanized every year. Bringing down that number should be a priority for all communities. To do that we need to have our pets spayed/neutered and offer low cost programs to the community for that purpose. Ending cats’ breeding cycles allows them to live out their natural lives without the constant stress of pregnancies and mating. Fighting amongst male cats decreases after being neutered. Another benefit is the cat may actually gain weight. For feral cats that means less food insecurity. In the end this method allows cats to live a longer, healthier life. I wasn’t aware of it but there are actually four different categories of homeless cats: stray cats who were once owned but dumped, feral cats who were born in the wild, barn cats who can be friendly or feral and community cats who are neighborhood cats fed by various people. I suspect that many of the community cats are actually stray cats that someone has abandoned. Folks who feed stray cats deserve a medal for kindness! Many times feral cats live in colonies that are close to a food source. If several of the cats are trapped and spayed/neutered, the colony can continue to exist but with a diminished population. The ultimate goal would be for the entire colony to be spayed/neutered. Sadly, many of the homeless cats will be euthanized. Up to now FAWG hasn’t had a permanent office. Thanks to Fallon Floors and the volunteers from NAS Fallon, FAWG is getting a permanent place to call home. On a recent cloudy morning 17 young men and women from NAS Fallon arrived for community duty. It was amazing! From pulling weeds to installing flooring they zipped through the chores. The office is still a work in progress and volunteers are working out of their homes. Please be patient if you are trying to reach the group; a volunteer will get back to you as soon as they can. I would like to mention that all the people at FAWG are volunteers who selflessly give of their time to help our cat community. If you are concerned about the cat population in your area contact FAWG. They will help you trap the cats and facilitate the neutering/spaying at no cost. You can contact the group at 775-294-1887 or their website: http//www.fallonanimalwelfare group.org. Presently, they are in the process of updating the website but stay tuned because it will happen. FAWG has barn cats who need jobs and house cats who need homes. As stated on their website: “One small cat changes coming home to an empty house to coming home.” I hope that I have let the cat out of the bag on the wonderful work FAWG does. If you are interested in getting your cat or dog spayed/neutered for free call CAPS (Churchill Animal Protection Society) at 775-423-7500 for details. This is a limited-time offer until the funds run out. Apply soon or you will miss your chance.           We need your support now more than ever -- as our small business community is hit, so is our advertising support -- if you are able to support local, independent news, now is the time to click here to contribute to The Fallon Post, so we can continue to bring you up-to-the-minute information. We are your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon and appreciate all your support. Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page.