On October 2, 2017, The Allen County SPCA announced the launch of a $10,000 Matching Gift Challenge Campaign to save the lives of hundreds of the area’s stray and feral felines. The campaign has been so successful that on October 10, 2017, in record time, the organization met its original goal with $10,442 raised.

The Allen County SPCA is thrilled to announce that although the initial fundraising goal has been met, the Operation C.A.T. Matching Gift Challenge will continue with additional $5,000 in matching funds from a second anonymous donor. Each gift made toward the Operation C.A.T. campaign through October 31, 2017 will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $15,000.

In June, the Allen County SPCA launched Operation C.A.T. (Cat Action Team) in partnership with Fort Wayne’s Animal Welfare Coalition (Allen County SPCA, Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control, and H.O.P.E. for Animals). The new program aims to reduce euthanasia through targeted sterilization of Allen County’s stray and feral felines. These cats are rarely adoptable and face near-certain death in shelters.

Through a method called Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), Operation C.A.T. is helping to manage feline overpopulation in our area. Cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear tipped and microchipped. After surgery, they return to the area where they were found and a caretaker provides them with ongoing food, water and shelter.

If the Allen County SPCA reaches its new goal of $15,000 (which will be matched dollar-for-dollar) the campaign will fund a total of 750 surgeries for animals in need.

“Operation C.A.T. started this summer with an initial grant of $60,000 from Best Friends Animal Society (with support from Maddie’s Fund) to start the program and complete 500 surgeries. Three months into the program we’d already completed 600. It was straining the shelter’s resources, but the need was so great we knew we had to find a way to continue our efforts. That’s where this Matching Campaign came in and the positive response from the community has just been overwhelming” says Jessica Henry, Executive Director at the Allen County SPCA.

Just one pair of unaltered cats can result in as many as 72 offspring over the course of 18 months. When these stray cats and kittens enter shelters, they drain already-limited resources and take up space – resulting in near certain death for them and decreased chances for survival for adoptable animals.

Donations can be mailed to:

Allen County SPCA

4914 S. Hanna St.

Fort Wayne, IN 46806

(please mark your gift as “Operation C.A.T. Campaign”