The 'Fall Feline' Print fundraiser is still in full swing! This illustrative print of a cat gazing up at the falling leaves might seem as simple as that, but there is actually more to the story.

The cat depicted in 'Fall Feline' is a female feral cat that lives in my neighborhood known as Charles. Charles, because at first we thought she was a he, until he got pregnant and had a litter of six kittens under our house. But, that's another story. Charles, after giving birth and nursing her kittens for the recommended weeks, was to be taken to the Trap Neuter Return (TNR) program at the WHS. We took Charles, or more or less Charles reluctantly came with us to the WHS to be spayed, a procedure that cost us $20. Seems like a lot for a feral cat, but that allowed Charles to get spayed, vaccinated, and recorded for the register of feral cats that are allowed to live out the rest of their days in our neighborhood free without producing any more kittens.

According to a study, it costs about $16 billion to trap and kill community cats. TNR programs cost taxpayers about $7 billion a year. Charles is a direct asset to keeping other feral cats from roaming in the area, which reduces fighting, the population is obviously reduced, and rodents are kept out of houses, which, if you ask my neighbor, is why she loves Charles so much. 

Charles gets to live outdoors and enjoy herself for the rest of her days, and we get to enjoy her company as well. A rule of thumb for the TNR program is that once the cats are returned back to where they were originally picked up, a continued source of food and water must be provided. Just like feeding the birds. So, our house is greeted by Charles throughout the day.

So there you go. A little behind the scenes look at 'Fall Feline'. I'm glad I am able to use my skills to help the WHS in the smallest of ways and hope you see how important this program and establishment is to the community. If you want to read more about the TNR program here's a link:  http://www.wihumane.org/services/tnr. Or just visit the WHS to see all the adorable dogs, cats, birds, bunnies and more. 

It's not just me though. You donating is making this all possible. So thank you for those who have already donated, and I encourage those who are thinking about ordering a 'Fall Feline' print to do it today! No time like the present. 

'Fall Feline' up now through the end of November at Suskie.etsy.com