What it means to saves the feline lives in the Midland area
MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – The Midland Cat Wranglers is a local nonprofit organization working to reduce the overpopulation of unwanted cats in the Midland area, following their daily schedule, trap, neuter, and return.
But what does it mean to spend your day saving feline lives?
Sometimes it can be an emotional job.
ABC Big 2 went behind the scenes to see what it means to dedicated your free time to saving animals.
The non profit working to make sure meows are happy ones through their feline rescue program.
“That’s basically why we started this clinic so that we could help to hospitalize cats that are sick, as well as rehabilitate them and then prepare them for adoption.”
Julie Windham is a local Midlander and the shelter and adoption coordinator with the program. She already has two of her own businesses, but what a lot don’t know is she dedicates a lot of her free time–with other volunteers–to saving the neglected cats of Midland.
“The calls were coming in, you know, ‘Can you come and help us? We’ve got these cats that just keep having babies and they’re getting run over in front of my house’ and this and that,” described Windham.
The organization was founded in 2020 and has saved more than a thousand cats, through their rescue program and release program.
Windham said there’s one contributing factor.
“They don’t fix them, and then they end leaving or moving or the cat doesn’t fit their lifestyle anymore, basically they kick them out the door, and this cat has not been fixed,” she added. “Which means that that cat has the ability to have 2 to 3 litters a year, the females, and over a lifetime of cats having that many, it can be up into the thousands.”
She said while the job doesn’t pay, seeing the cats safe, healthy, and going to a loving family, is all the payment she needs.
“Knowing that we’ve done everything to the point of getting them adopted out to a good home, to knowing that their going to be loved by somebody for the rest of their life, that’s probably the most rewarding,” she smiled.
But the help can have a major emotional toll.
“The other thing is when we have to put them down. I always hate that, and I’m usually the one that does that. That part I definitely don’t like, I don’t like that part. I know there’s life and death with these things,” she shrugged. “I really wish we could save all the cats here in Midland-Odessa but unfortunately that’s not the way it is.”
But when you do find those willing to lend a hand, it makes a huge difference in finding homes for them.
“It does take them a little bit of time to get acclimated to that environment, so when you’ve got volunteers coming in of all different ages, it helps that animal to be able to decipher and kind of, become more comfortable with different age ranges. And you do want to make sure that they are good fit for your household, so that’s why it’s so important for volunteers.”
If you are looking to help volunteer or donate to the organization, head to their website.