In 1989, Stanford University had a problem with roaming cats all over the campus. Too many students think kittens are cute and adopt, but realize at the end of the year, mom won't let them bring them home, so they let them go (there is a no pets policy in campus housing). The university decided to exterminate these feral cats. But a group of people who had been trying to care for some of these cats got together to take care of this issue by trapping them all, getting the metered, taking many in that were tame enough to be pets, and attracting others to special feeding stations on the campus that are watched and fed and watered daily by volunteers. Through adoptions and attrition over the years, the number of regular ferals we have on the campus now is at about 15. We continue to find new cats as people dump them, but we also have a policy of adopters returning the cats to us if they must surrender them instead of taking them to a shelter where they would most likely be killed. We also find many lost cats and reunite them with their owners.
We always need volunteers to do the feeding, fostering, and some administration work like making flyers for our adoptable cats and posting them and putting them on various websites. We do a once a year holiday letter with information about what is happening along with a donation appeal. We need donations to purchase good food for our ferals, get our cats neutered and make sure they are healthy. Vets are quite expensive, even with our shelter discount. We have no real administrative overhead except for stamps and paper.
Create an alert, and we'll notify you every time a new pet comes in who meets your criteria.
Create an alert, and we'll notify you every time a new pet comes in who meets your criteria.
We take responsibility for all free roaming cats on the Stanford University campus and lands. We try to help with community cats, as well (Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, San Jose, Cupertino, Sunnyvale) when we have enough volunteer fosters or by posting them for adoption as community cats on our website and the websites with which we affiliate.
Additional adoption info
We have applicants fill out the application--usually online. Someone calls to talk wit the applicant to find out more about their needs and desires. If we find all in order on the phone, we invite the person to visit the cat in the foster home. If it seems the 2 are a good match, we visit the potential new home to be sure all looks according to what was said and that they are ready for the cat. We then deliver the cat to the home. They must be willing to keep the cat inside and have a safe place for the cat to retreat to if he needs it. Plus secure screens. Of course, agree to keep the cat healthy with yearly exams, immunizations, good food and fresh water, fresh litter, etc.
Adoption application
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
P.O. Box 2261,
Berkeley,
CA
94702
P.O. Box 3645,
Walnut Creek,
CA
94598
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