(Cat)ching Up

From the first time I saw a picture of Miss Ruby, I could tell she was a smarty pants.  She was so emaciated that we had absolutely no idea what a beauty she would become .. yet I could tell from her eyes that this clever girl already understood that life had just taken an abrupt turn for the better. 
To this day, she leads my boys around by the nose.  When Henry has something she wants ... she still uses her tried and true tactic of distracting him by barking at the window.  When Andy has commandeered the spot closest to me ... she will use a bit of soft sell to entice him out for a little fun before taking his spot ;)
Amazingly ... my sweet girl is not one bit food aggressive .. although she carries enough clout that even the cats take the long road around past her dish.
The point that I'm making in my roundabout way is that I have always been a big fan of women that think outside the box.  And nowhere is that more evident in my everydays than in the incredibly resourceful way many find to fundraise for their rescues.
They hold BBQ's and walks .. they go to market each week ... from festivals to open houses right through to speed dating gigs ... if there is an innovative way to raise funds for their rescues and shelters, it will be found.
Now before the keyboards catch on fire, yes I know that many good and kind men are engaged in animal rescue .. up to and including my hero Nathan Winograd.
When people think of TNR, most folks do tend to get sexist and portray them as a bunch of "crazy cat ladies".  Yet nothing could be further from the truth than such a sexist generalization.
Here in this province, one of the first folks to embrace TNR was a lovely man who has done much to get the idea and concept of TNR out in the media... Pierre Filiatrealt ... of PACS.   He is also currently serving on the provincial board of the society and if I'm not mistaken has also taken some promising first steps to unify the voice of the hard working TNR folks around the province.
Another one of my favourite fellows is a person who blogs by the name of Peter T Wolf with a must read blog called Vox Felina.  The next time someone starts spouting off about the damage that stray and feral cats cause to the local wildlife, you send them off to read this blog. 
Unlike the TNR opponents, this is a fellow who Does deal in facts, hmmm?
I've been feeding birds for most of my adult life and have to say that the biggest danger to wildlife is humans.  We encroach on their habitats, bringing chemicals that affect their ability to procreate  ... and as such represent a much more significant threat to wildlife.
But I am wandering afield in my usual fashion.  The point I am trying to make in my meandering way is that our hard working TNR folks ... of both genders .. are remarkably innovative.  Even better, they have fine tuned the art of doing their work in an economical fashion efficiency experts can only fantasize about.
These days, municipalities are all concerned with making ends meet.  Might I suggest that supporting the hard working TNR folks in their area would give them excellent value for their "buck'
When riverbanks overflow and bridges burst at the seams, municipalities are quick to seek help.  If their budgets do not include providing modest support for TNR, perhaps its time for residents in this province to contact their MLAs to request provincial assistance.
What time is it?  Its always time to remember that just as the roads and bridges aren't going to fix themselves, the cat overpopulation issue isn't going away until the kitties get fixed.