$5,000 Challenge Match to support continued spay and neuter for outdoor cat communities in Tompkins County.
An incredible thank you goes to Dina Maxwell for offering our Giving Tuesday Challenge.
Humble beginnings to happy ever after.
Dina adopted Tabitha, now lovingly called Tabi, from our very first round of TNR trapping and spaying from a mobile home community in Newfield.
Our volunteers thought Tabitha was friendly and not feral, and she was brought to the SPCA to see how she would do. We quickly found that she was a lovebug.
Tabi was homeward bound when she went home with Dina early last winter. Tabi now has a terrific life, warm beds, and so much love.
Helping Cats and Communities in Tompkins County
The story begins here.
On to math class. Note: Later on, we will focus on the three year number of 376.
A mobile home community in Newfield, NY.
When we first launched the groundbreaking Trap Neuter Tompkins (TNT) initiative in summer 2024 in partnership with Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program, we hoped to make a real difference in a mobile home community in Newfield where 50% of the kittens and cats entering the shelter come from. In just six weeks, 147 cats, including 74 females, were trapped and brought to the shelter by a team of devoted volunteers for spay or neuter, microchipping, and vaccinations. This was made possible through multiple surgery locations including the SPCA, Cornell's Small Animal Community Practice, and the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.
In March 2025, after the last snow, our staff and volunteers returned to Newfield with results that were completely inspiring. By the end of May, 76 cats were spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped, including 50 females. Two of our volunteers, Bob and Jackie, were at this home just a few days ago creating a winter "kitty motel" with plywood, coolers, and straw under this very porch. The owner said to them "I have only lost two kittens this year due to the TNR efforts, and normally it would be many, many more."
From August through October 2025, we focused on two new locations in the county, Hanshaw Village and Beaconview Village. Over those three months and six trapping and surgery dates, 182 cats, including 90 females were trapped and altered.
This pile of kittens was pulled from under a porch at Hanshaw Village after the resident called to ask for help. SPCA volunteer Bob Terry crawled under the porch to bring the kittens to the shelter for placement with uber-foster Allison Myers until they were socialized and old enough to be spayed and neutered. The team also trapped and brought in the mom and tomcat of those kittens who were then both altered. End result, no more kittens from them and a new happy fur-ever family. Victory!
Recently, Beth Saulnier Miller and Julie Langenbacher, the SPCA volunteers who manage our two-week cat callback program, shared this update on two of the kittens:
"The kittens Cireula and Bellota are doing fantastic! Thank you so much again for letting us adopt them. They are having a great time in our home and we are so glad that we adopted two, as they get to hang out together all the time. They are very loving and well-behaved. You did an amazing job preparing them for adoption."
Before this they lived in the dirt. Talk about a happy ending.
None of this would be possible without our dedicated staff, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and the help of our SPCA volunteers, led by the core team of Bob, Karen, Julie, Allison, Susan, Norm, and Jackie.
We are helping individuals, too.
A local cat lover, Nancy O. reached out to the shelter for spay and neuter help for cats that she is feeding and caring for outside her home. Nancy, retired and living on Social Security, was somehow managing the care of 30 cats, 12 of them females. Once again, our core team trapped her cats, brought them in for surgery, and returned them to their home with Nancy. They even included food to help her manage feeding the community.
Nancy sent a wonderful card to the SPCA with this sentiment: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making all this happen for my kitties and me. You will never really know how much this means to me. You and your staff are the very best."
Five of Nancy's thirty cats were kept at the shelter and readied for adoption. The left snap is of Tinker, one of the five who has found her forever home. The snap on the right is of Tommy, who is at the shelter right now. As of this writing, Tommy has an adopter interested in him! Yay!
SPCA Volunteers build winter housing for the cats.
Thanks to several generous donations and the power of our volunteer corps since 2024, 32 shelter kits to provide winter housing were assembled and distributed to our TNR locations in Freeville, Enfield, Ludlowville, and on Hanshaw Road. With each winter shelter provided, straw and cat food were included for the cats. They also built two feeding stations for the cats.
Bob Terry, a core volunteer states: "Being part of this TNR project and this amazing team of volunteers has been an honor and a privilege. Undoubtedly, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Not only has it changed the lives of hundreds of cats we have trapped but also the countless number of kittens we have found and rescued.
It has also changed the lives of the humans who so unselfishly care for these cats. This TNT program has provided them with hope, when--for the longest time--there was little hope to be found."
Front row volunteer fabulosity: Lucia, Allison, Karen
Back row volunteer fabulosity: Anne, Raissa, Julie, Bob, Jackie, Susan, and Stormin' Norman
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