TASC

Whether you meant to land here or not, thank you for visiting TASC’s web site. How a non-profit gets started is anyone’s guess, and if you’d like to know how The American Street Cat, Inc. came about, the backstory (written in June 2011) is below.

Otherwise, we hope that you’ll explore other tabs and drop-down pages to learn more about us, the cats we assist, and how you can help. No effort is too small in the campaign to minimize the homeless cat population.

The Backstory
by Kathryn Walton, Founder
June 24, 2011

Every once in awhile, a person needs a kick in the pants of complacency to embark on a new adventure. My adventure began in February of 2010, when friends from whom I was subletting were experiencing marital difficulties and decided to separate. Needing their second Manhattan apartment back, they asked me to relocate. Welcome to Brooklyn.

Immediately upon move-in, I noticed the number of street cats on the block, and Stella, somehow knowing, began appearing like clockwork at my windows. We’d blink our hellos, I’d offer food, and she’d allow me to sit nearby while she ate. If I reached out a hand, though, she’d back up, so I respected, and we resumed our simple, flirtatious friendship. I wished to befriend her completely in order to have her spayed. Before long, she was pregnant. I marked my calendar when it was clear she’d had the babies. My searches for them proved fruitless.

Five weeks later, while Stella was presumably introducing her brood to the friendly neighborhood dining establishments, I was awakened by the most anxious cry from a kitten’s mouth that I’d ever heard. On my porch was baby Nova, who simply lost sight of her mother around the corner. It’s a split-second decision whether or not to grab a kitten. I grabbed.

Four months passed, during which time neighbors informed me that they’d all tried trapping Stella before. Allegedly one of the founding colony members nearly a decade ago, Stella had become wise to the ways of humans with traps. Meanwhile, Nova was growing like a weed and dictating my every breathing moment, earning the nickname, Boss. Stella became pregnant again, and again I marked my calendar.

Her newest bunch essentially paraded out my back window five weeks later, and Stella watched me place each one in a carrier. The very next day, no lie, she allowed me to pet her, but the buck stopped at picking her up. I found homes for the kittens, eventually coaxed Stella indoors, and had her spayed. Because she had become too friendly for me to let outdoors, I decided to foster her until I could place her. However, with the approaching winter holidays and not many people caring to adopt a “senior” cat, Stella became another permanent fixture.

It’s been a snowball effect since. Before the end of 2010, and at rescue #10, I realized the need to start a non-profit organization or otherwise land in the lap of poverty. Beginning with Nova’s rescue last June, I have now, one year later, personally handled 49 cases, 39 of which are from my block alone. Accounting for all of the cases, 29 have been placed in homes, 12 have been eartipped and released, 2 have died, and 6 are up for adoption. We’ve lost 2 other cats in the colony to vehicular traffic, and at last count, there are still 7 TNR candidates on my own block (including one pregnant female).

All in a year’s work?

The goal is to spay/neuter every cat and reduce the colony size, or at least maintain it, which can only be done if breeding is brought to a halt. This applies to my own colony as well as to other local colonies that have been identified. One person does make a difference, and outside support makes a difference to that one person. Area residents have already reached out for and received my assistance, but I need assistance, too. A true grass-roots effort, The American Street Cat, Inc. will, in time, be growing throughout Brooklyn and beyond. I’d like you to be a part of it.

The Backstory
by Kathryn Walton, Founder
June 24, 2011