Teresa O’Brien started Pura Vida Volunteer Cat Services, Inc., which helps to assist and control the growing cat population in Duval County. O’Brien said her nonprofit involves TNR, which stands for trap humanely, spay/neuter, vaccinate and return.
Fourteen years ago, O’Brien opened her business in Ponte Vedra Beach. It was then that she discovered a hungry male cat that she started to feed. She heard about a colony of cats nearby that had been TNR’d. A few months later, she noticed a young cat with a large belly. The cat returned to the food bowl with her four kittens four weeks later. O’Brien wanted to help the kittens but wasn’t able to adopt them since she already had three large dogs at home.
Fortunately, O’Brien was put in contact with Lee Conway who educated her about the importance of controlling cat populations. Conway taught her how to trap and where to take the kittens to get them fixed and vaccinated for free. O’Brien has provided the kittens and their mom with food and water every day since. Thanks to her help, the family still thrives today.
No neighborhood is immune to having stray cats, and O’Brien became more aware of all of the homeless and unfixed cats around town.
“That is what inspired me,” she said. “My nonprofit offers to TNR cats for people or local businesses for free.”
This helps to keep unwanted and unhealthy cats to a minimum.
“The work that I do prevents cats from breeding, which leads to the suffering of innocent cats and kittens,” O’Brien said. “Birth defects, predators, deadly diseases either inherited or contracted from other unhealthy cats and humans cause the most harm and most inevitably, death.”
The nonprofit also helps to re-home friendly cats that have been abandoned and provide a safe environment for kittens to be adopted. O’Brien said she’s been able to return lost pets to their families.
O’Brien said that the community can help by fixing and vaccinating their cats before letting them roam outside. Cats should not be re-homed without being fully vetted.
“If you feed them, please fix them,” O’Brien said.
Volunteers are always needed to help with transporting cats to or from the free clinic. So many locations need TNR, and it would be helpful for people to learn how to humanely trap. Volunteers can also foster if they have a spare room in their homes. Donations are always welcome as the nonprofit can use supplies such dry and wet cat food, canned fish, cat nip, puppy pads and bleach to sanitize traps.
“Another way the community can help, is to please adopt,” O’Brien said. “There are so many local rescues and shelters that are overwhelmed with beautiful, fully vetted and social cats and kittens.”
There are options to donate monetarily as well at the nonprofit’s GoFundMe. https://gofund.me/c7d39b971.
You can also find Pura Vida Volunteer Cat Services on Facebook to learn more. https://www.facebook.com/share/1BLV3YZBav.
