Connection
About eight years ago, we noticed a group of cats living behind a restaurant. Being cat lovers, we were concerned for their well-being and wanted to see what we could do to help. We found out that the cats had a caretaker who fed them daily, but the restaurant manager was not pleased with this situation because the cats kept having kittens in his shed. He decided he had to “call animal control and have them removed.”

Solution
We did some research and found out about Trap-Neuter-Return. We talked to the restaurant manager and he agreed to let us trap and spay/neuter all of the cats. Over several months, we were able to do this.

Key outcome
The spay/neuter clinic we used wanted us to sign a release allowing them to euthanize any cat that tested positive for FIV or FeLV. We objected to this and, after much discussion, we came to an agreement with them: if a cat tested positive, they would perform the surgery only if we promised not to release the cat back into the outdoors. Not long afterwards, one of the cats we trapped tested positive for FIV, and we had no alternative other than to bring him home. We built a cabin for him in our back yard, and provided a fenced area so he could go outside. Before long he had a roommate, and then another. Eventually, we built two more cabins; one for FeLV positive cats and one for cats without contagious conditions. In 2012, Mollie’s Cat Place came into being as a sanctuary for old cats and cats that have tested positive for FIV or FeLV. We received our status as a 501©(3) charity in 2014, and we now house between 30 and 40 cats at any one time.