Seven things you didn’t know about Regina Cat Rescue

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You know Regina Cat Rescue (RCR) rescues cats from the streets and finds them adoptive homes, but there’s a lot more to running an animal rescue than that! Here are the top seven things you probably didn’t know about RCR:

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  1. No cat leaves our care unsterilized. That’s right – all cats that we rescue are spayed or neutered before they’re adopted. Sure, paying for hundreds of surgeries a year is costly, but it means our rescues won’t contribute to Regina’s cat overpopulation crisis.

  2. 17 policies govern our work. We know governance isn’t exactly sexy, but these policies help us be financially responsible and achieve the best possible outcomes for cats in our care. We review our policies each year to make sure they still align with our values and with best practices. They’re also available to the public for viewing here.

  3. We run Regina’s largest TNR program. TNR or trap, neuter, return is widely recognized as the humane approach for addressing community cat populations. That’s why we’re proud to manage 27 community cat colonies in Regina. We also provide TNR support to 43 independently managed colonies!

  4. We don’t have a shelter. Instead, our cats live in foster homes (67 at last count!) or at one of our adoption partners (like Excalipurr Cat Café). This means when people contact us for help, it can take us a few days to make room in our foster home network.

  5. We don’t receive government funding. RCR is funded by donations, sponsorships, grants and fundraising. The good news is we’re a registered charity so we can offer tax receipts for donations over $10.

  6. Every cat in our care is tattooed and/or microchipped. Reuniting cats with owners is next to impossible when the cat has no identification. By tattooing and/or microchipping every cat we rescue (plus our community cats too!) we help make reunions possible in the event a cat goes missing.

  7. We receive dozens of messages a day. A small team handles every email, website inquiry, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram comment or direct message RCR receives. We get back to everyone as soon as we can, but as volunteers who have jobs outside of RCR it can take us a few days reply.