How these animal lovers in Mirea found bond and meaning as they transform stray cats to community cats
Mirea Community Cats Volunteers members (seated from left) Abbie San Juan, Kei Sato, Edge Chua; (standing) Jem Cachola and Mon Ibrahim.
For the love of animals. Speaking on behalf of the community, Mirea Community Development Council member Mon Ibrahim shared how a group of dog lovers protected the community cats from being neglected and taken away by the City Pound. Despite coming from different buildings, 25 neighbors got together to pool their resources to help the community cats as a way of helping their community, too.
From stray cats to community cats. The stray cats have been there since the buildings were being constructed; however, they decided to stay since aside from being territorial, the cats always find their way through waste which were improperly disposed of by some early movers. That’s when Mon thought of feeding the cats so they refrain from digging food through the piles of garbage in order to survive and that's where he met other volunteers!
Trap-Neuter-Return strategy. Together with their Property Management Office, the Mirea ComCat Volunteers reached out to the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to implement the TNR strategy. PAWS heeded their call; they rounded up the cats to undergo the procedure in their facility and then returned.. Since last year, they have neutered and spayed more than 20 cats already!
Home for the cats. To date, there’s about 20 community cats in Mirea, 15 of them found a loving home within the units of the volunteers, while the 5 elder cats freely roam around the community. They have also been given anti-rabies vaccines to protect them and their human friends.
“Taking care of cats is taking care of the community.” With their programs in place, Mirea ComCat Volunteers is happy to share their strategy and practices to other communities including TNR, feeding schedules and community education and information campaigns.
“We cannot save all animals but we can save one life at a time.” Aside from nurturing them, the volunteers make sure to bring the community cats to the vet for their wellness. Adoption and sheltering also lessened the instances of car scratching. All the community cats have names, too! Thanks to the kids from the block who take care of the naming convention.
Benefits of having community cats. Aside from helping us stay sane during the pandemic, community cats also help in pest control as they chase away rodents from the property; and ultimately, bring together the community for worthy advocacy..Be a volunteer, too! To join the volunteers, reach out to your PMO on how to participate!
“Better Mirea Community”. Both the volunteer group and the PMO agree - the cats strengthened their bond for the community. Funny as it sounds, they found synergy by working through his program all for the greater good of Mirea and its families.