The Granville TNR Project

06/15/2026

PSA About Rescue Work, Volunteers, and Protocols

As kitten season continues, we wanted to take a moment to explain how organizations like Salem's Community Cats and The Granville TNR Project operate.

We are a 100% volunteer-run organization. Every trap set, every transport, every foster home, every late-night emergency call, and every adoption is made possible by people donating their time because they care about animals and their community.

Because our volunteers are responsible for the welfare and safety of the cats in our care, we follow established protocols developed through hands-on experience with trapping, fostering, socialization, medical care, and colony management. These protocols are not arbitrary. They exist to protect cats, kittens, volunteers, property owners, and the long-term success of rescue efforts.

When we provide guidance during a trapping or rescue situation, it is based on what has consistently produced the safest and most successful outcomes for the animals involved. Following a coordinated plan helps prevent unnecessary stress, injury, separation of nursing mothers from kittens, prolonged confinement, weather exposure, and other situations that can place animals at risk.

We understand that people are passionate about helping cats, and we appreciate everyone who wants to be part of the solution. However, rescue work is most effective when volunteers, caregivers, property owners, and community members work together and communicate openly throughout the process.

Our goal has always been the same: reducing suffering, preventing unwanted litters, and helping as many cats and kittens as possible with the resources we have available.

Thank you to our volunteers, fosters, trappers, transporters, donors, and the community members who trust our experience. Every successful rescue is another win made possible by the power of working together.

06/13/2026

06/11/2026

Tonight this Granville cat was helped across the Rainbow Bridge. Local residents say he had been living largely on his own for a couple of years. By the time a Good Samaritan finally stepped up to help, he was extremely sick. After his condition was assessed by a vet, it was determined that the kindest course was giving him a peaceful goodbye.
This is not the outcome anyone in rescue wants to see, but we can’t perform miracles. We need to highlight this point: animals wandering at large in the community are a community issue.
When a cat is living outdoors, especially for months or years, that isn't just the concern of one person, one rescue, or one volunteer. It is something that affects all of us. These cats live in our neighborhoods, under our sheds, behind our businesses, and on our streets. Their welfare depends on people being willing to notice when something isn't right and take action.
Cats are very good at hiding pain. Many suffer silently until their condition becomes impossible to ignore. By then, the opportunity to provide meaningful treatment may be gone. Surviving is not the same as thriving. This boy deserved better than struggling outdoors while his health slowly declined.
And the reality is that there are other cats just like him in our communities right now.
The solution isn't complicated, but it requires that people step up. If you see a cat around your neighborhood, try to find the owner. If a cat appears sick or injured, seek assistance or help the cat yourself. Don't assume someone else is handling it. Don't ignore it.
Every successful rescue, every TNR project, every cat that receives medical care starts with one person deciding to act.
The Granville TNR Project and Salem's Community Cats are manned by a small group of volunteers and we can't be everywhere. We rely on community members to actively participate. The welfare of community cats is a community issue.
Tonight, our hearts are heavy for this sweet boy. We wish help had come sooner. We wish his story had a different ending.
His legacy can be a reminder that when we see an animal in need, we all share a responsibility to care enough to do something.
Rest easy, sweet boy. You mattered.

05/29/2026

0zzyfest Craft Fair & Pet Supply Drop Off
Check out our event page on Facebook below:
https://facebook.com/events/s/0zzyfest-craft-fair-pet-supply/1372991580976072/

05/28/2026

From “feral” to family room. Hard to believe that until recently these three kiddos were all living outside in a colony of community cats and presumed to be feral: scared, defensive, unsure about people. As sometimes happens in the course of TNR, Maxwell, Tweed, and Isla were found to be not feral but simply afraid. Given the opportunity to decompress and feel safe, their personalities started to shine through.

These sweet, gentle, shy-but-affectionate cats clearly appreciate the simple comforts of indoor life: soft blankets, sunny windows, and full bellies. No more fighting to survive day by day.

Maxwell and Tweed have been helping newcomer Isla learn that people can be kind and indoor life can be safe. Watching shy cats help other shy cats heal is one of the best parts of rescue.

Maxwell and Tweed are almost ready to find their forever homes, and applications are welcome for either or both of them at salemscats.com/adoptions
Isla is still working on building her confidence and isn’t quite ready for adoption yet, but she’s getting there.

Finally, if you appreciate the efforts of The Granville TNR Project volunteers in helping cats like these get off the streets and find better lives, your donations to support their work enables them to continue moving forward. Contact Dee Scarlotta to donate directly or use the PayPal link on our website (note that your contribution is for Granville TNR).

05/14/2026

🚨 FOSTERS URGENTLY NEEDED 🚨

The Granville TNR Project (a subgroup of Salem’s Community Cats) is currently working in collaboration with North Shore Animal League at a local community cat site where 40 cats (to date) have received services. This number includes over 16 kittens that will be going up for adoption, several pregnant cats now in foster care, and over 20 adult cats getting spayed/neutered and assessed as to temperament/adoptability.

While many of these cats have been living outside, volunteers have been finding that most want human connection. Some are scared and shut down at first, but with just a little time to decompress indoors, their personalities begin to shine through. These are cats that deserve a chance at forever homes rather than a return to outdoor survival.

Fosters are the missing link. Without foster homes, adoptable young adult cats may have to be returned outside because there is nowhere for them to safely land while awaiting adoption.

Fosters make ALL the difference. By fostering, you become the bridge between the streets and a forever family. You give these cats a safe place to decompress & adjust (or readjust) to indoor life along with exposure to potential adopters.

Most importantly, you give them hope for a different future. Even a spare bedroom, bathroom, office, or quiet corner can save a life.

One foster can literally mean the difference between a cat going back outside or finding a forever home.

If you're interested in making a difference in the lives of cats right in your own community, please complete our foster application. The link can be found on our website under the Volunteer tab: https://www.salemscats.com/volunteer

This is the time to jump in if you've been considering fostering. Message our page with questions.

02/23/2026

One free kitten is rarely just one free kitten when you don't spay/neuter!

"It is just a free kitten on Facebook! Why are you so upset! Mind your own business!" (How many times do I hear this a year? A hundred?)

Do you know WHY rescuers get so upset when we see "free kittens" on Facebook or Craigslist? - ALL year, rescuers volunteer their time and energy and finances trying to spay/neuter the maximum number of animals in our communities. It is exhausting work. Traveling entire days to source appointments for the public. All the paperwork, the clinics, the loading and unloading, literally a thousand cats being loaded and unloaded. We are trying to help the community dig themselves out these cats. We do it because we love animals. We want to see less suffering.

And then someone allows one female cat to give birth and then a hundred other people do the same (because it is just one female cat and it just a few kittens, right?) ....and now we have a 500-700 unaltered kitties heading right back out to the community.

Undoing ALL that work.

Undoing that time spent going to spay/neuter clinics. All that time spent, trying to help the community get ahead of overpopulation. It erases all the blood/sweat and literal tears. It is, honestly, feels so defeating.

If you see free kittens online, please URGE the poster to contact rescues. I need each and every one of you to participate if you see "free kittens" on Facebook ' Do not shame ....but find ways to educate and direct folks towards to find responsible ways to rehome kittens

And yes, sadly, there will be a time this spring/summer when the rescues fill up and rescuers will, helplessly, watch kittens being given away litter after litter (that time of year makes me want to crawl under my covers and hide from the world)......but until that happens, we have to try our best to get Mom spayed and get these babies into rescue. A good rescue will ALWAYS spay Mom so that Mom's life is no longer, needlessly put at risk by endless pregnancies

Advocate for baby kittens to go to rescue. Advocate for Mom to get spayed. Be part of the solution. Help rescuers get ahead. There is no way out of this unless we are all doing our part. ❤️🙌

02/22/2026

Attn Granville! The Granville TNR Project needs fosters for friendly stray cats! If you're in the Granville area and would like to make a difference in the lives of cats in your own back yard, this is the time to act.

There is a current need of placement for one shy young adult female living outside, most likely left behind when someone moved. Granville TNR would provide supplies, training, and support. An ongoing need for foster homes for both adult cats and kittens is anticipated in the immediate future.

Fostering a friendly stray kitty provides them with the bridge between life outside and their second chance in a forever home. Without foster homes, these cats will stay outside. There is nowhere else for them to go.

The Granville TNR Project has already begun making a difference in the lives of Granville area cats. Become part of their team! Interested? Drop us a line here, contact The Granville TNR Project or message Dee Scarlotta directly.