MARYLAND
FELINE SOCIETY, INC – WHO WE ARE
The Maryland Feline Society, Inc., was
founded in 1970 as non-profit organization for cat lovers in
Maryland
. It has charitable, humane, and
educational purposes – specifically to improve and protect the health
and welfare of all cats and to educate people about cats. The organization, which is now
a 501.c3 non-profit, tax-exempt group, achieves these goals through
bi-monthly meetings, our website (http://www.mdfelinesociety.org/),
and a variety of projects.
Our main projects over the
past several years have been Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) events. TNR is a
method of dealing with feral and stray cats living behind restaurants,
in alleys and abandoned buildings, and in other places. These cats gather because
there is a food source such as a dumpster. Without intervention, their
population grows rapidly. With a TNR program, cats are trapped humanely, altered,
vaccinated, ear-tipped for identification, and returned to their home
area with a caretaker providing food and sometimes shelter. If TNR is
practiced consistently, the numbers of feral and stray cats begin to
diminish. This, in turn, makes it easier to find homes for the many
surplus cats which are produced each spring.
Maryland Feline Society worked with Animal Rescue and the Maryland SPCA through August of 2008 holding TNR events as often as 10 times a year at a minimum cost to colony caretakers.
Other projects include
an annual sponsored talk on cat health or behavior and an information
table at the World of Pets Expo. Members have written cat care pamphlets which we distribute at
this table along with professionally prepared brochures on cat
behavior issues.
Our bi-monthly meetings
usually feature a program about some aspect of cat health, behavior,
or ownership. Cats often
are present. Some past
programs have been about the latest findings in chronic kidney
disease, the feline urologic syndrome, memoirs of a pet-sitter, and
cats that miss the litter pan. Other programs have been about specific
cat breeds such as the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Tonkinese.
Meetings are open to the
public and consist of a brief business meeting, the program, guest
cats, and light refreshments. We meet at the Pickersgill Retirement Community,
615 Chestnut
Avenue
in
Towson
near Loyola Blakefield off
Charles
Street
. We meet the second Sunday of
February, April, June, August, October, and December at
2 pm
.
Do join us at our next
meeting!
P. O. Box 144,
Lutherville,
Maryland
21094-0144 http://www.mdfelinesociety.org/
January 22,
2007
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