Culture and People
How lighthearted shelter initiatives create meaningful change for cats
Did you know you can turn a bad relationship into lifesaving care? “Neuter Your Ex” campaigns seek to do just that by making a difference in feral cat populations.
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February is best known for being a month of love…unless you have a terrible ex. But any lingering hard feelings cat lovers might have about past relationships can be used for good if they happen upon a Neuter Your Ex event, which offers donors to symbolically name a feral cat after their ex, and pay for a TNR—trap, neuter, release—of said cat.
Christie Arlotta, founder of Karma Cat Rescue Society in Milltown, New Jersey, decided to start a Neuter Your Ex initiative last year after seeing other shelters starting their own events.
“I was like, ‘that’s really fun,’” she said, though she thought it might be a little on the crass side. “But I ran it by the team and they were like, ‘No, we should totally do this.’”
Although last year’s Neuter Your Ex was a success for Karma Cat, resulting in 30 additional donations—60% of which came from new donors—it wasn’t on the schedule for this year. But Arlotta says that the old donation link was left up and surprised her in early February.
“Neuter Your Ex wasn’t on the list to redo again this year, actually,” she said “And it was like the beginning of February. I started seeing a few donations come in from the old link, and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re still doing this.’ So, we kind of just reworded and updated the stuff and put it out on social media again. So that was super interesting to see that it lived on another year.”
Other nonprofits like Visalia Feral Cat Coalition report similar results, with an estimated 40-50 donations last year. Although the number might not sound groundbreaking, even one neuter makes a difference. The Monmouth County SPCA estimates that 3-4 million homeless pets are euthanized each year in the U.S. And because a female cat can have two litters a year with an average of four kittens per litter, that means that by the year’s end, there can be an additional 40 cats born per year if each kitten reproduces within their first year of life. It’s easy to see how feral cat populations can multiply quickly. Some estimates state that within seven years, a single female cat and her offspring can produce 370,000 kittens—many of whom are unlikely to find loving homes.
The statistics might be grim, but lowering the barrier to entry when it comes to donations is an important step. Karma Cat doesn’t charge the full cost of a neuter —$28 is all the rescue asks per donation, which, along with the humor of the campaign, helps encourage participation.
The rescue’s main focus for the Neuter Your Ex event is fundraising, as, in Arlotta’s words, the initiative is a “relatively easy way to raise funds” while also taking care of her community and raising awareness about TNR.
“It didn’t cost us anything except for, you know, the time to get it up and running and then we could sort of point to TNR without hammering TNR. A lot of people still don’t know what that is and so we’re trying to work on that.”
The strength of the campaign, Arlotta says, lies in its relatability—after all, just about everyone has had a bad breakup and spite sells.
“We’re a relatively progressive organization,” she explained. “We like to tell the good stories, the happy stories. You know, we don’t focus on the sad things, and we don’t play the Sarah McLaughlin video. It’s just not our jam, and we’re a little bit sassy sometimes. And so this was a fun way to be anti-Valentine’s Day.”
At the end of the day, Arlotta notes that authenticity is what drives the rescue’s events and overall success, whether it be Neuter Your Ex, annual Snip and Tip events that already has 60 cats signed up for a spay/neuter and ear tip, or even Yoga with Cats, featuring adoptable kittens from the rescue with 100% of the proceeds benefiting rescues.
Although clinics and shelters might not be able to hold all of these events, being true to your voice and leaning into creativity and community can go a long way. It might take some experimentation, but Arlotta has found that the end result of authenticity is worth the journey.
“You’re gonna find your people,” she said. “And when you try to fake it, everybody sees it. Just find your voice and know your community too.”
Photo credit: © Berk Ucak via Getty Images Plus
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