On January 3, 2018, CROM celebrated its 25th anniversary! What began as a one-woman memorial to my beloved Beethoven has turned into (gasp) an organization. Our primary mission is assisting the caretakers of feral (wild) cat colonies who want to do TNR.  That means they trap the cats, have them tested for FELV and FIV, vaccinated and altered.  Our role is supplying equipment and funding for the vet bills, as well as moral support and information. 

     Whenever possible, kittens and strays are placed in carefully screened adoptive homes (they wait at our vet or in foster homes until they are placed). Feral adults are returned to the colony. Once the colony is "finished", the caretaker's role becomes supplying food, water and shelter and picking up any stray that might wander by in search of a handout. Many of the caretakers then become volunteers to help in our fund raising efforts so we can help other colonies!

     Our accomplishments with respect to the kittens and strays that are placed in adoptive homes is fairly obvious. But what about the adult ferals? Originally, I thought of the goal of the neuter and release process as being primarily to prevent kittens from being born to suffer. But I have come to realize we accomplish a lot for the adult ferals as well. Freed from constant pregnancy, the female ferals plump up and start to look happy and healthy the way nature intended. Males also start to look much healthier and their roaming is greatly reduced - reducing the opportunities for the spread of disease and the possibility of being hit by a car. It is not a purrfect answer - we all wish they could have homes - but in today's world that just isn't realistic.