Dottie's Ferals

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Our Story

In 2009, my mom, Dottie, passed away, leaving me a house in Queens and the +/- 18 feral cats she had been caring for in her yard for many years. The strain on my finances and health has been overwhelming. I have managed to keep it together and protect these cats for 8 years despite worsening cat-allergic asthma, never enough $$ and insane over-development of the area all around us. I have begged for relocation for this group of cats from every group and organization under the sun for 8 years without success. Because I knew this house of cards would eventually collapse. I just never dreamed the way it would actually happen. In March 2016, my next door neighbors announced their plans to sell their house to developers who will tear it down. This was simultaneous with a complete health collapse that caused me to send even my own house cats to foster care. It turns out my health problems were from exposure to toxic mold. I had no choice but to join my neighbors in a sale of my house to the developers that will tear both down. The heart of these cats' sanctuary will be destroyed. Along with bulldozers and wrecking balls will come rat poison, flying debris, noise that will drive them into the street -- no end of threats to their safety. This is not a theoretical possibility. This IS what happens. Three of our ferals, Opal, Garnet and Jack A were lost to rat poison in the last development four years ago. This page is my last hope for help for my mother's cats. I've held this fragile situation together for as long as humanly possible to the complete devastation of my own health, finances and well being. If they are not moved, and are left to whatever fate awaits them with the destruction of their environment, it will be the second biggest heartbreak of my life. The number of cats living in our yard has diminished naturally over time from +/- 18 to 10. There are 5 cats that are blood family, 3 newcomer cats, and 2 cats that come sometimes. They are all my responsibility and all deserve a safe place to live when the property is no longer mine. My goal is to get them out of there to safety while the house and grounds are still mine to control. There will be a closing in early June. On that day, it's out of my hands. This page is meant to be a hub of communication for offers of new homes, trapping and transport, spay/neuter and/or holding/housing while everyone is collected. I thank everyone deeply and profoundly for any and all help. For more information: Our story first appeared on Care2.com April 27, 2012: http://www.care2.com/causes/what-do-you-do-when-you-inherit-18-cats.html Here is an unabridged version of the same story: http://www.thepridecartoon.com/whatdoyoudowhen.html If you'd like to give to Dottie’s Ferals please send a donation by PayPal to [email protected]. I am not a 501c3 organization so your donation is not tax deductible. I am just an individual making deep sacrifices for cats. But you can be assured that every dime I receive goes directly to the animals it is intended for either in the form of food, or medical care or caregiver fees. If you would like to donate supplies, please visit our Amazon.com wish list here: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/W5KTF4JKMLW7/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_1. If you want to know more about me, I am award-winning artist. My cartoon, ‘The Pride Starring Crazy Johnny,’ and my book 'The Twelve Cats of Christmas' (a cat lovers' spoof of the famous Christmas song), have won numerous awards. That and my children's books, 'Emmaline', which I wrote and illustrated, and 'The Cats On My Block,' which I illustrated for Humane Society of NY, are all available on Amazon.com. My firm, The Mad Hand Arts, Graphics & Design, LLC, creates awesome visuals for clients and markets of every type all over the world. The Mad Hand has a page here at http://www.facebook.com/themadhandarts and a home website at www.themadhand.com. My storefront, The White Cat Co., features feline designs unrelated to Dottie’s Ferals and The Pride Cartoon, but with a portion of the proceeds going to Dottie’s Ferals. http://www.zazzle.com/thewhitecatco. 24-hour schlep-free shopping for crazy cat people. I am happy to pay for all help trapping, driving, holding if necessary, provide food for life for these cats and donate money and/or design hours to whomever is willing to take my cats. ------ Update, 5/21/17 WE DID IT! IT HAPPENED. We relocated 6 of Dottie’s Ferals to a farm upstate NY on Saturday, 5/20/17. My two huge-hearted friends Karoline and Constance drove in, Karoline from Pennsylvania (!) to make this happen. Together we baited and set 10 traps (loaned to us by the awesome and generous Ngela Hedges – thank you Ngela!), and we got 6 of our (give or take) 10 ferals. Sandy, Peach, Pearl and Little Jack were caught in the first five minutes. Hahnsy and Anthony took a bit longer. Transport for the cats was arranged by the Mayor’s Alliance For NYC Animals (thank you May at Mayor’s Alliance), and they were picked up in a temperature controlled van and driven (by Patrick, who was awesome! Thank you Patrick!) to their new home. They arrived safely a few hours later, and are now enjoying their new VERY OWN BARN!! The sanctuary owner, an awesome lady, a real animal whisperer with a heart the size of the continental US, will keep them in the barn for at least two weeks, until they have acclimated and are at no risk of trying to run off. Then they will have access to a fenced in outdoor area, and in the winter, will have a heated (yes, that's right, HEATED) trailer. Something they have never had in their lives. They have only had insulated feral cat huts. They were terrified and carried on while waiting for their ride but I know they will soon understand that no harm is going to come to them, and that this is a whole new, better life. They won't know it, but I will know that they are safe from a seriously dangerous demolition zone in the very near future. And I will never have another sleepless night worrying about them. We unfortunately did not catch, of all people, little Penny, the calico. She is the littlest sister of Peach and Jack, and the niece of Sandy, her favorite uncle. She saw Pearl get trapped, and then was wise to the situation, and disappeared. But we will try for her again. NO CAT LEFT BEHIND! Now what will keep me awake is the idea of Penny alone for the first time in her life in the yard she shared with her whole family (and I do mean literally family: her two brothers, Peach and Little Jack, and her only surviving uncle, Sandy, went upstate without her). Poor girl. We have to get her. Whether we go out of our way to find and trap the "sometimey" cats, Alamo and Sleeves, will be decided. As they are not fully dependent on me, and were nowhere to be seen on trapping day, I feel less obligated to them than to Penny who is one of my core group. But they have places reserved for them if they want to go. --------------- 6/18/17 We got Penny. She moved up to the sanctuary today. Sleeves hasn't been seen for over a month. It's assumed he's been adopted. He was extra cute. Alamo is a snow bird, here in the winter, not in the summer. So we're not chasing him down. That means we're done. Our mission was accomplished. No cat was left behind. I am crying with relief. I thank from the bottom of my heart all those who helped. And send a big shame on you to those who promised help and/or were in a position to and refused. You know who you are. You made my life a misery and this horrific situation endured long past what it needed to based on waiting for you to fulfill your promise. I hope you use some of that money you collect in donations to help actual animals in need. No one was more needy than me, and you ignored me. Shame on you. We are still taking donations and will keep our Amazon wish list active as we have pledged to provide lifetime support for our cats at the sanctuary. All funds and supplies will be forwarded to the sanctuary. If you wish to give money, please send your donation by PayPal to [email protected]. If you prefer to donate supplies, please visit our Amazon.com wish list here: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/W5KTF4JKMLW7/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_1. We are still under oath not to share the name of the sanctuary as the owner has frequently been the victim of anonymous animal dumping, is semi-retired, and cannot take on any new animals.