How's this for a purrfect start to the New Year? We’ve just formed a partnership with Nine Lives Foundation in Redwood City to provide Rancho Cordova residents as well as other underserved areas of Sacramento County with low-cost spay/neuter and vaccination services for cats and kittens. The partnership with Nine Lives, the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading no-kill feline shelter that also runs a low-cost spay/neuter clinic, greatly expands our efforts to reduce feline overpopulation in our community.
Currently the low-cost spay/neuter vouchers Whisker Warriors provides are accepted at the Sacramento SPCA and Community Spay & Neuter Clinic supported by the Sacramento County Department of Animal Care and Regulation (ACR). The agreement with Nine Lives to accept vouchers became effective December 7, 2018.
While some may wonder about the feasibility of transporting cats to the Bay Area for spay/neuter, Nine Lives provides us with a unique drop-in surgery capability Monday-Friday. This is a much needed service for our feral cat trappers. Locally, drop-in services are restricted to one cat per person Monday-Saturday, with a cap of 10 cats in total accepted per day without an appointment due to high volume. Trappers now can expand their trapping efforts throughout the week, knowing that they have a place to take trapped cats to be fixed. We are expecting that trappers will want to work together to coordinate transport. We also will be looking into possibly running a weekly schedule transport effort with a dedicated site for cat drop off and pickup. Stay tuned!
The Nine Lives story
Dr. Monica Rudiger DVM is the founder and driving force behind Nine Lives. She established the not-for-profit back in 2004 in an effort to reduce the number of cats and kittens euthanized at local animal shelters in the Bay Area. Because of the overwhelming number of cats coming into shelters, those with medical or perceived behavioral issues, as well as elderly or injured cats, had little chance of being held until adoption or rescue. Dr. Rudiger was determined to change their fate.
From a tiny warehouse space in Redwood City, she founded Nine Lives Foundation no-kill shelter. The Feline Well-Care Clinic, also established in 2004, helped provide low cost spay/neuter, vaccinations and veterinary medical care for local cat rescue organizations and the underserved community. All funds generated from the Feline Well-Care Clinic supported the Nine Lives shelter.
In 2011, Dr. Rudiger pursued her dream to more aggressively tackle feline overpopulation in the community. She closed the Feline Well-Care Clinic veterinary clinic to focus on saving shelter cats and full-time provide low cost spay/neuter and vaccination services.
Today, Nine Lives includes two Redwood City facilities, which include the spay/neuter clinic at 3137 Jefferson Avenue and the just completed new Smurf and Wanda Cat Adoption Center at 3106 Rolison Road. Some of you may remember reading about Smurf, who was the kitten found dyed purple and covered with wounds. Weighing only one pound, he was brought to Nine Lives for care. While there he bonded with Wanda a blind kitty who came to Nine Lives after a family found her shivering outside.
Smurf’s story was picked up by news media around the world, not only giving Nine Lives global attention but also raising awareness about the tragedy of dog fighting for cats as well as the dogs. It is believed that Smurf was used as “live bait” for dog fighting. Fortunately there is a happy-ever-after ending to the story since Smurf and Wanda were adopted together. Today, the Nine Lives Smurf and Wanda Adoption Center stands as a reminder about the terrible cruelty that community cats – and sadly even owned cats – often face.
We’ll keep you posted on our partnership with Nine Lives. Next time you are in the Bay Area, even if you aren’t bringing a cat in for spay or neuter, stop in to the shelter and meet some of the Nine Lives kitties and the dedicated team.