FAQ

1. Veterinary care for cats is on the decline: 45% have not seen a veterinarian in at least one year.
2. Cats have little chance of being adopted once in the shelter system: 71% of cats never make it out of the shelter alive.
3. Cats are being portrayed as environmental enemies: web sites and publications using questionable statistical models portray cats as decimating bird populations even though habitat destruction (by us) is a far greater threat.
4. Cats are seen as “independent,” not needing care, left to roam and fend on their own.
5. They have a high reproductive rate – and can produce three litters a year in some climates.

1. Does it have a statewide spay program? See our list here.
2. Does it have a well-run, publicly funded subsidy program for indigent people with pets?
3. Do the veterinarians in your state routinely recommend spaying cats by five months or before their first heat?
4. Are there affordable spay clinics and programs all over the state so all who need the services can reach them?
5. Are there animal welfare groups that are helping promote the prevention of unwanted litters – or are they just reacting to a bad situation?

1. Work to educate the public about the problem and the solution for cats
2. Create a Beat the Heat display for your local library
3. Let us know about well-run spay programs in your area – or start one.
4. Make a donation to Marian’s Dream to help us continue the work on raising awareness across the country.

Our work to change attitudes and policies, raise awareness and assist grassroots groups is quiet and often behind the scenes. While many organizations have excellent public relations people, even whole departments, we have neither, nor do we do direct mail, widespread solicitations or professional marketing. The up side of that is reduced administrative costs, the down side is – people have not heard of us! We have been at work for 40 years; here is a list of some of our current and past projects and campaigns:

We have been and are:

• Promoting TNR since twenty years ago, long before it was popular
• Working with the Veterinary group at the American Public Health Association to gain official approval of section policy endorsing Trap / Neuter / Vaccinate / Return
• Promoting “early spay” twenty years ago, working with Drs. Leo Lieberman and Marvin Mackie
• More recently have championed moving the age of spaying back four weeks as the default age – from six months to five months.
• Obtained formal recognition through Chase’s List of February as Beat the Heat month
• Working with the American Veterinary Medical Association to designate February as Beat the Heat month
• First to create a national network of spay/neuter programs and clinics
• Working with statewide spay leaders in thirty states to improve their skills and programs

We helped numerous groups as they started their work with seed grants. These organizations include:

• Alley Cat Allies
• the Humane Alliance
• Planned Pethood International
• SPAY MEXICO
• SPAY PANAMA
• Spaymart
• the HOPE Spay Neuter Clinic
• Alliance for Animals Spay Clinic
• Spay First
• the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs
• the Animal Rights Alliance mobile clinic
• Animal Birth Control
• Oklahoma Spay Network

We currently are running two campaigns:

• Fix by Five Months – Spay by Five Months or Fix Felines by Five Months
• Leadership development for state spay leaders