An apartment complex that formerly banned community cat feedings is now becoming an advocate for providing proactive care for animals in the area.
An Estuary Mobile Clinic and Food event on Aug. 27, despite having only five pre-registrants, provided wellness exams to 35 dogs and cats, gave away free food and supplies, and reserved spots for spay/neuter procedures, according to organizers.
The event marks a 180-degree turn for the apartment management, which, in March, had banned volunteer cat feeders from the complex.
After a Rough Draft story about the kerfuffle, negotiations began between Estuary apartment management and Kirk Cats, a volunteer group founded in 2014 by neighbors concerned about the plight of free-roaming cats in the Kirkwood neighborhood.
“Representatives from Kirk Cats, along with Rebecca Guinn [the CEO of Lifeline Animal Project] and the management group, met, and we explained the dilemma of these cats and worked out an agreement to continue to feed them,” said Kirk Cats’ Catharine Tipton.
The stable population of about 30 cats, most of whom had been left behind when their owners moved out of the apartments, had been part of a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) program for years. The feeding program re-started over the summer.
The August event, held in partnership with Lifeline Animal Project, ran from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at one of the clubhouses on the property. It was spearheaded by two Estuary colony caregivers, Natalia Alvarez and Matea Blazevic, who walked and drove around the property seeking pet owners and feeders who could take advantage of the free service.
“The clinic wants to return in a few months on a Saturday so more animals at the Estuary can be vaccinated, chipped, and fixed,” Tipton said. “Thank all of you for making this event a success, the first of many at apartments across DeKalb County, I am hoping.”
