I Spayed LA

I Spayed LA 2011 Photos from ISLA 2011, of outreach and rescue in the 90037 zip code area. »

Dear Friends:

I am so excited to tell you about Stray Cat Alliance’s newest program, I Spayed LA. We have recently embarked on this innovative spay/neuter project that targets some of the poorest demographic areas in Los Angeles—areas with little to no services for spay/neuter, in desperate need of support that now comes from Stray Cat Alliance.

We not only provide vital spay/neuter services but also key elements, which are not traditional to spay/neuter campaigns, as part of our new program. To increase effectiveness, we use proven, successful, community organizing tactics to communicate the intrinsic value of our life saving program. Our volunteers and staff speak to churches, schools, community groups, senior groups, door to door and neighborhood councils to share the benefits of a well organized and orchestrated spay/neuter campaign. We are setting up block and neighborhood captains who will be trained and outfitted with information, and education and resources to help their streets.

Stray Cat Alliance is also partnering with key human-centric nonprofit organizations in these areas. For example, we are teaming up with a nonprofit group whose purpose is to keep troubled youth in school. These children will work alongside us, helping to spread the word at their schools and churches, distributing educational flyers and even trapping free-roaming cats. We also plan to interface with an organization committed to help the homeless lift themselves from poverty. The group’s leaders say they there is much to learn from our program.

I Spayed LA weaves itself seamlessly into the very fabric of this community and we believe it will have far-reaching results. We know that if we fixed every single cat in the area, two years later, the cat population would return to its original number. Our goal is to change the hearts and minds of neighborhood residents by education and the empowerment to take positive action. We’re already witnessing incremental changes.

We have begun with the zip code 90037, a very impoverished area where we believe as many as 10,000 free-roaming cats live. There, two well-stocked trap depots await caring citizens who want to learn all aspects of humane trapping. Once trapped, cats are taken to our strategic partner for spay/neuter, Animal Rescue Center in South Los Angeles. All services are paid by Stray Cat Alliance at this low cost facility.

Additionally, Stray Cat Alliance is establishing dispute resolution teams to manage neighborhood conflicts. We also know from experience that once all cats are fixed, many conflicts resolve themselves.

Much work lies ahead of us but we are determined. Our goal is for Much 70% or more of all cats to be sterilized in this zip code in the next three years so no more free-roaming cats enter the South Los Angeles shelter. First and foremost, the city of Los Angeles must cease killing healthy and treatable animals—I Spayed LA is paving the way for this monumental achievement.

CONSIDER: The implementation of I Spayed LA brings us one step closer to the fulfillment of our mission to educate and empower the community to advocate for every cat’s right to be safe, healthy and valued. We are building a no kill nation, one stray at a time, starting in zip code 90037.

The I Spayed LA program is modeled after a successful political campaign…..and we’re out to win! Won’t you join us?

Won’t you accompany us on the road to achievement? Thank you, as always, for your support.

Sincerely,

Christi Metropole
Executive Director