Many Thanks to the PETCO FOUNDATION for presenting LAST HOPE with an $8,000 grant to help support our TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) Efforts for Long Island Feral Cats
The 2020 Kitten Season has become more difficult to manage because of the COVID crisis, for example-
* Last Hope has put public TNR clinics on hold, and all veterinary visits for ferals have become harder to find .
** From mid-March to mid-June, Last Hope issued 500 discounted TNR vouchers to the public where cat caretakers will pay $15 per cat, & Last Hope pays the rest of the surgery price (which averages $57 per feral cat.)
** Now let’s do some math..
If all 500 vouchers were used, 500 ferals would never reproduce again.
The cost to Last Hope would be $26,500 minus the $8,000
from the Petco Foundation grant which would make $18,500 our final cost .
It’s unrealistic to expect all 500 vouchers to be used. 55% is more typical compliance which means about 275 feral cats would no longer add kittens to the Long Island cat overpopulation.
Voucher usage could be higher than 55%. We won’t know the true compliance rate until the vouchers expire & all the vet bills come in.
275 TNR vouchers would cost Last Hope $15,675 minus the $8,000 grant which leaves a final Last Hope cost of $7,675.
**Put in simpler math terms, if it costs Last Hope an average of $57 to spay/neuter a feral cat with these vouchers where the caretaker contributes $15 more toward the surgery, then Petco Foundation is providing Last Hope with 140 feral cats spay/neutered for FREE.
As you can see TNR is vital to cat welfare & humane population control but expensive. Such a generous grant from the #petcofoundation allows Last Hope to continue curtailing the feral & homeless cat problem close to home.
