When we founded CLAWS, it became obvious fast: most of the homeless cats in this town are alive today thanks to the efforts of a handful of people quietly doing the hard, thankless work of keeping their colonies safe, fed and as comfortable as they can be made under the circumstances.
They’ve been spending their own money, hauling food in all weather, and problem-solving alone for years. Without them, half the cats in Lebanon would already be dead.
But reality is what it is and sometimes caregivers burn out, emergencies happen, and some colonies don’t have anyone caring for them at all. That’s why the Colony Care Network exists.
What the Colony Care Network Is
The Colony Care Network is CLAWS’ organized system for mapping, tracking, supporting, and stabilizing every known outdoor cat colony in and around Lebanon.
This system is powered by our Purralytics app, where each colony is logged with:
- Cat counts and population changes
- Caretaker details (if any)
- Food and water availability
- Winter shelter status
- TNR progress
- Overall safety level
- GPS coordinates and notes
It keeps us from guessing and lets us actually manage the cat population responsibly — instead of playing whack-a-mole with emergencies all year long.
How the Colony Care Network Works
1. Colony Identification & Tracking
If someone reports a new colony, we add it, verify the details, and start tracking numbers so we’re not flying blind.
2. Support for Caregivers
Many of our current caregivers have been at this 10–30 years. They deserve support, not burnout.
The Goals of the Network are to Provide:
- Emergency or substitute feeding help
- Replacement winter shelters
- Food support when budgets get tight
- Extra hands for trapping or transport
- A backup plan when caregivers are sick, traveling, or overwhelmed
3. TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return)
We prioritize colonies with active breeding and work through our limited spay/neuter slots. Cats recover safely indoors and return to their original colony. This keeps numbers stable and prevents the chaos of kitten season.
4. Socialization & Adoption
Not every community cat is feral. The ones who show potential go into foster care and eventually into adoption. Others who are too wild to ever adapt to indoor life among humans, can be trained as “working cats” and we’re developing a special foster program just for that. That’s how colonies shrink long-term — not magically, but cat by cat.
5. Long-Term Rescue Vision
We’re building toward a true cat-centric rescue space down the road, where adoptable cats can be socialized properly. We’re not there yet. But this network is the foundation.
Why This Matters
These are the most at-risk animals in the community.
If we don’t organize around them, they fall through every gap:
- No food
- No shelter
- No medical care
- No TNR
- Litters on top of litters
- Preventable deaths
Some colonies still don’t have a caretaker at all. Those cats rely entirely on whether or not someone happens to notice them. You can change that.
Ways You Can Help
🧡 Become a Colony Caretaker
Adopt a colony with no current caretaker and give them the consistency they’ve never had.
🧡 Join the Feeding Relief Team
Cover a caregiver’s day off, fill in during emergencies, or help during holidays when people are stretched thin.
🧡 Transport Cats for TNR
Moving traps to and from vet appointments is one of the most needed tasks — and the easiest way to help if you can’t commit to feeding.
🧡 Help Build or Replace Winter Shelters
PVC, foam board, insulated totes — we’ll walk you through designs that actually work.
If any of that is of interest to you, or if you would like to help out in some other way, click below to complete our Volunteer application.
Note – if you’re interested in fostering cats, there’s a different app for that, and in that case, this is the link you want!
🧡 Sponsor a Colony
Some colonies cost hundreds of dollars a year to keep fed, sheltered, and stable.
If you want to make a major impact, you can sponsor an entire colony.
Colony Sponsorship Details
- Annual donation: $500 or more
- Recognition: Prominent listing on our website as that colony’s sponsor
- Reward: A formal sponsorship certificate, awarded publicly at our next fundraiser
- Impact: Your support covers food, shelter replacements, TNR costs, and emergency medical care for one colony
👉 Contact us to sponsor a colony:
clawsva@gmail.com