If you're looking to adopt a new feline friend to join your family, Compassionate Action, Inc., a Long Island cat rescue organization, has a perfect match for every loving and responsible household. From tiger stripes, calico cuties and elegant tuxedos to white princesses, striking tortoiseshells and black beauties, there is a winning whiskered face for every taste.
Compassionate Action is a no-kill group that has been rescuing the Long Island community's homeless, abandoned and abused cats and kittens for nearly a decade. Their goal is to provide these cats with compassion, fresh starts and loving forever homes. Frances is the president of Compassionate Action, but you will most likely communicate and interact with the group's director, Elizabeth. These kind ladies were no strangers to the rescue scene. They each spent years before Compassionate Action's inception with other animal welfare organizations to end the sad plights of cats in desperate need of love, care and permanent, secure homes.
Many of the cats and kittens were abandoned, homeless waifs that are now taken off the streets, waterfront docks and anyplace else where they are sited. They do not come from shelters. Now that an increasing number of shelters operate under a no-kill policy, the cats in these facilities are already being provided for and given the chance for adoption. Compassionate Action's goal is to give the truly homeless the same opportunity, a chance they may never otherwise have because the shelters are often full to capacity. The organization also strives to provide feral cat colonies with safer homesteads. Once a colony catches their attention, the situation is evaluated. If the cats are residing in a potentially hazardous location, efforts are pursued to find a safer habitat and relocate the colony. Volunteers then visit the colonies every day to check on the cats and feed them.
Kittens and cats that are taken in by Compassionate Action receive health examinations and are tested for feline leukemia and FIV, two viral diseases that affect cats by compromising their immune systems. The cats receive their core vaccinations, they are dewormed, and they are treated for fleas. Any other typical young feline health issues, such as ear mites, eye infections or upper respiratory infections, are treated as well. The cats are then placed in various foster homes, where they are cared for, socialized and become acclimated to indoor household life. This system of taking in the number of cats for which there are foster homes available, and spreading the cats among these homes while they await adoption, minimizes their chances for contracting illnesses from other cats. Every cat that is adopted from Compassionate Action is in excellent health when delivered to his or her new, permanent home.
As space becomes available and the cats have become healthy and happy, they are transferred for display in the Selden and Lake Grove locations of Petco. Here, they gain the greatest exposure to potential adopters, and each cat tugs at heartstrings and displays his or her most irresistible, captivating charms to pave the way into a forever home. Many of the cats that are available for adoption can also be viewed on Compassionate Action's Facebook page and website. Once an interested party fills out an adoption application, screening begins. Elizabeth wants each and every cat to end up in a home that will be safe and secure, loved by owners that will provide excellent care, interaction, love and compassion in their home for the rest of the cat's natural life. To ensure these results, a telephone interview and a home visit will take place. Once these screenings are passed and the potential adopter is approved, then their new furry friend is hand delivered by the organization to the new home.
Elizabeth takes charge of overseeing and carrying out many of the organization's tasks with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers. From screening adoption applicants and overseeing adoption events to making daily visits to feral colony sites and shuttling cats to and from veterinarians and foster homes, Elizabeth is determined to provide every single cat with a better life. Her empathy and hope spread into the hardworking volunteers as they provide day to day care and interact with the cats and kittens. Elizabeth's devotion is unwavering, her constant efforts are tireless and the love and concern that radiates from her heart to each and every kitty is quite apparent. She is truly the unsung hero to Long Island's feline population.
Compassionate Action, Inc. is a nonprofit organization, relying solely on donations to operate. This can certainly, at times, present the toughest challenges. The strain is especially felt during the spring and early summer months, which is the height of kitten season. When the influx of kittens requires vaccinations, blood testing, medical treatment and foster homes to house and, in some instances, bottle-feed abandoned orphans, there is always the need for more money in the budget, more foster homes and more volunteers. As the organization has grown, they have been able to coordinate fundraising events that have included yard sales, vaccination clinics, bowling outings and wine tasting. They have also expanded their cats’ visibility from one Petco store, in Selden, to include a second Petco location in Lake Grove. Adoption events are held at Petco every month.
What can you do to help? Compassionate Action is always in need of volunteers to assist in all aspects of their operations. Cat lovers who are interested are urged to apply. There is also a constant need for more households that are willing to temporarily foster cats that are awaiting their forever home. The more foster homes there are in place, the more cats the organization can take in and help. If you would like to adopt, volunteer or foster, you may contact Elizabeth at 516-480-9279. The organization also relies heavily on donated supplies, such as cat and kitten foods, blankets, towels, cat beds, cat furniture and scratching posts, litter boxes and litter, toys, dishes, paper towels, kitten nursing bottles and formula, cat carriers, etc. You can also visit Compassionate Action's Amazon wish list to order supplies that will ship to them directly. Remember that all donations are tax-deductible.
If the idea of welcoming a cat or kitten into your home is one that you have been pondering, reach out to one of the many sweet kitties that Compassionate Action, Inc. has to offer. June is Adopt a Cat month, so there is no time like the present to grant a cat the love, care and compassion of a forever home. The cat's gratitude, in return, will instantly become apparent and endure for his or her lifetime as you become the recipient of unconditional love and comforting companionship.
For more information about upcoming adoption or fundraising events or to browse available cats for adoption, visit www.compassionateactioninc.com
Each successful adoption reinforces the goal that Compassionate Action, Inc. is all about.