Exploring the World of Animal Shelters: An Inside Look at Street Cat HUB

/ Albuquerque, Interviews, New Mexico / By michelle

An interview with Street Cat HUB from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Table Of Content

Introducing Stacy Heaton from Street Cat HUB
How did Street Cat HUB Start? What Are The Challenges Encountered Along The Way?
Tell Us About the Most Unusual Animal that Street Cat HUB Has Ever Taken
Tell Us About Your Events
What Would You Say Has Been The Most Rewarding Part Of Running An Animal Shelter?
Tell Us About Your Volunteers
Where Do Most Of The Animals In Your Shelter Come From, And What Is The Process For Rescuing And Rehabilitating Them?
What Are The Busiest Periods And How Does Freed Spirits Animal Rescue Cope?
What Animals Does Street Cat HUB Focus On?
Working With The Local Community
Tell Us More About Your Events
How Has Street Cat HUB Adapted To The Challenges Presented By The Pandemic?
Share With Us Some Of The Heartwarming Stories Of Animals Rehabilitated And Rehomed By Street Cat HUB.
What Are The Help Needed From The Local Community?
Connect With Street Cat HUB here:

Introducing Stacy Heaton from Street Cat HUB

My name is Stacy Heaton, Executive Director of Street Cat HUB. I am passionate about the importance of spay/neuter.

How did Street Cat HUB Start? What Are The Challenges Encountered Along The Way?

The founder, Jayne Sage, started the organization because she saw many stray cats unfixed, roaming her neighborhood. She witnessed cat breeding, cat fights, and many unwanted kittens being born on the streets. Can you share a brief storyline about the organization’s founding, including any challenges or obstacles that had to be overcome and how the founder’s vision for the shelter came to reality? Jayne began trapping community cats in 2011 and bringing them to veterinary clinics around town, paying out of pocket for their spay/neuter. In 2014, Best Friends provided funding to start a TNR program in Albuquerque, which led to the start of the organization. The biggest obstacle was getting the city and county shelters on board with TNR, rather than euthanizing community cats.

Tell Us About the Most Unusual Animal that Street Cat HUB Has Ever Taken

A chicken. We were trapping cats at a location and a chicken kept going into the trap. We brought him to our clinic and held him until all cats were trapped and received their spay/neuter. Then the chicken was safely returned.

Tell Us About Your Events

We have one major fundraising event per year called “Spay It Forward”. The goal is for the community to donate to a cat who is in need of spay/neuter and vaccine services.

What Would You Say Has Been The Most Rewarding Part Of Running An Animal Shelter?

We do not run an animal shelter. We are a veterinary clinic that provides TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) services for free roaming cats.

Tell Us About Your Volunteers

All of our clinic volunteers are passionate and dedicated to the work that we do. Their involvement began when they reached out to us to receive TNR services for the community cats that they were feeding around town. The TNR process inspired them to be more hands on with our overall clinic needs.

Where Do Most Of The Animals In Your Shelter Come From, And What Is The Process For Rescuing And Rehabilitating Them?

We do not rescue cats. Our goal is to provide humane alternatives to euthanasia by using TNR to assist with population control.

What Are The Busiest Periods And How Does Freed Spirits Animal Rescue Cope?

Our clinic is busy year round. We have spay/neuter clinics 12 days a month and provide 500-600 spay/neuter surgeries within these 12 days. We spay/neuter 45-50 cats each surgery day.

What Animals Does Street Cat HUB Focus On?

We focus on cats because of the amount of community cats that are born on the streets each year.

Working With The Local Community

We have limited funding from the city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County to assist in the work that we do. Because of TNR, the shelters are able to have more space for social cats that need adoption.

Tell Us More About Your Events

We welcome all donations at any time. It truly takes a village to do what we do.

TNR is our sole mission.

How Has Street Cat HUB Adapted To The Challenges Presented By The Pandemic?

We have had to hire more staff to keep up with the demand of spay/neuter that was not being offered during the pandemic.

Share With Us Some Of The Heartwarming Stories Of Animals Rehabilitated And Rehomed By Street Cat HUB.

From time to time, cats are brought into our clinic for spay/neuter and we discover that they are microchipped, therefore, they are able to be reunited with their families.