Feline Initiative finds homes for diverse cats




By Michelle Allenberg, Tribune Staff

Thursday, September 17, 2015 6:16:47 EDT PM

If you want a hardworking cat, look no further.

Port Colborne Feline Initiative’s Jobs4Cats launched last week and is aiming to give certain cats a nontraditional home.

The Feline Initiative is a non-profit organization that finds homes for all its feline friends. The cats the organization traps in the region are neutered, vaccinated and returned to where they are found. If the area they are trapped isn’t suitable, the organization tries to find homes or relocate them.

The cats that aren’t suited for a traditional indoor home will be placed in the Jobs4Cats program.

Kristi Vogel of the Port Colborne Feline Initiative hopes to have those cats adopted by people who have rural properties.

“They might want a hardworking cat that will help them out in many different ways — providing environmentally friendly rodent control. There are all different things that cats can do and they work for their supper,” Vogel said.

The individual or family adopting their working cat should provide water, food and shelter as payment for their cat’s hard work Vogel said. There are currently six cats ready for adoption.

“They are ready to perform and are asking for the chance to be interviewed and are ready to work.”

The non-profit has enrolled close to 1,300 cats and kittens to date . Vogel said she’s seen a difference. The organization is breaking the cycle of reproduction, where cats are living on the streets.

The Welland Humane Society works with the Feline Initiative by assisting in the adoption process.

“We get comments from people all the time, `Gee I just don`t see the number of stray cats roaming around,’” Vogel said.

Although the barn cat program isn’t a new idea, Vogel said it’s all in the way you market it.

You have to “make it appealing to the public and get the word out there,” she said about the program.

“There are so many groups out there that are trying to assist this problem, so we are certainly not unique in this way. What I feel our strengths are is we offer a number of different programs and we focus on one community, because resources are slim.”

The Port Colborne Feline Initiative is also looking for a new building. They currently work out of volunteers’ houses and a trailer. Vogel said they have outgrown the trailer and are looking for someone in the community who has a building they could use.