May 17, 2024 — Union members serve their communities. Union members serve people. Union members serve – cats?
A team of CSEA and PEF members at Elmira Psychiatric Center have banded together to rescue stray cats around their work location, feeding, trapping, and spaying and neutering them with assistance from the Chemung County SPCA.
Morgan Davidson, who is in graduate school to become a social worker and is aiming to become a PEF member upon completion; Chris Boughton, a registered nurse; and Catherine Shea, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, are working to save these often-abandoned animals.
“I took this on mostly because I know that these cats are often out here due to people who have abandoned them after moving or they decide they don’t want the responsibility,” Davidson said on behalf of the trio. “Based on the behavior of some of these cats, I know they are stray cats, not ferals. Once upon a time they had a home and now they are living on the streets.”
The group works with the SPCA’s community cat program for the spaying and neutering, removing the burden of paying for the surgeries out of their own pockets. So far they’ve assisted 11 felines either find new homes or get the veterinary care they need.
Emergency needs, however, are on the team.
“I had one sick kitten since I began this process and I did have to pay money out-of-pocket for his vet bill, and in the end, he sadly did not make it,” Davidson said.
Recently, they rescued a mother cat who had given birth inside the Elmira Correctional Facility.
“At first I went to get the kittens because I was under the impression the mama had gotten spooked and ran off,” she said. The mother came back, and she was able to trap her and remove her and her three kittens. They will go to the SPCA when they turn eight weeks old.
Davidson, Shea, and Boughton have a message for pet owners and lovers: “It’s important to get your animals spayed and neutered so they don’t repopulate unplanned,” they said. “Supporting local animal shelters is extremely important because they do so much for these animals in our communities.”