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Foster needs and rescues rise at Cal Poly Cat Program · Stories from Mustang News on KCPR

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  Speaker 1: As a number of cats coming through the cal Poly
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  Speaker 1: Cat program continues to rise, students say they're in need
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  Speaker 1: of more fosters, especially as Thanksgiving break approaches. The student
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  Speaker 1: run nonprofit has been helping campus and community cats for
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  Speaker 1: more than thirty years. Maylee Laho, a biomedical engineering student
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  Speaker 1: and advisor for the program, said it's an opportunity for
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  Speaker 1: students to get involved while giving back.
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  Speaker 2: And it were really unique situation because it's partnered with
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  Speaker 2: cal Poly, so it is a chance for students to
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  Speaker 2: kind of get involved in in running a shelter, in
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  Speaker 2: volunteering at a shelter, and getting pre vet experience.
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  Speaker 1: This year, foster coordinator Miranda Sadel says they're seeing more
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  Speaker 1: cats than usual coming in from local shelters and stray rescues.
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  Speaker 3: We have these three cats that we've been trying to
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  Speaker 3: play for a couple of months now. We just haven't
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  Speaker 3: had a lot of interest.
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  Speaker 1: The program relies on student and community volunteers who temporarily
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  Speaker 1: care for cats until they're adopted, helping to free up
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  Speaker 1: space in the shelter for more rescues.
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  Speaker 3: Someone with a single quiet room, or someone willing to
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  Speaker 3: learn basic medical care like giving kids or fluids can
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  Speaker 3: make a huge difference for these cats.
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  Speaker 1: On a Lincoln Brink in Animal Science major and volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: says the growth and volunteers has helped the program keep
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  Speaker 1: up with the rising number of cats.
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  Speaker 4: We've evolved in terms of personnel. We have more volunteers,
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  Speaker 4: more people actively trying to get involved, which allows us
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  Speaker 4: to take in more cats as well and potentially have
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  Speaker 4: more fundraising events, get more money, have more resources.
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  Speaker 1: Datil said. Many of the cats now are more shy
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  Speaker 1: or have medical needs, making it harder for them in
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  Speaker 1: traditional student apartments.
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  Speaker 3: Any of our fosters lived with multiple roommates or just
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  Speaker 3: can't provide the time more a quiet environment, which is
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  Speaker 3: totally understandable for college students, but it does make it
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  Speaker 3: harder to place cats who need extra patients or space
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  Speaker 3: to decompress.
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  Speaker 1: The program also runs a trap neuter release initiative to
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  Speaker 1: help manage local stray populations, which has led to community outreach.
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  Speaker 5: It's getting feral cats safely up to all of their vaccinations,
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  Speaker 5: spade and neutered, and then released into a different area.
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  Speaker 1: The program provides food supplies and training for fosters and
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  Speaker 1: creates a group chat for support and vet care coordination.
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  Speaker 3: We'll also especially need more fosters for fall break, as
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  Speaker 3: some of our fosters end up going home, just makes
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  Speaker 3: me sad to see them in the shelter where.
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  Speaker 1: Students or community members interested in fostering or adopting visit
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  Speaker 1: calpolycatprogram dot org or follow at Cal Polycat Program on Instagram.
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  Speaker 1: For Rusting news on KCPR, I'm Melissa Prick