Community Cat Advocacy Team Springfield

The weather is changing, fall has arrived and winter in right on its heels. The rescue is in high gear preparing winter shelters and feeding stations. Along with that comes, the need to fill the feral food pantry with extra provisions. The cats require extra calories during the cold wet months to maintain their body heat and energy levels.

Our friends at Track Town Real Estate Group and Keller Williams Realty, LLC understand this and want to help ensure all of our colony kitties get what they need!! They are matching $500 in donations towards meeting that need! Here’s an opportunity to make your donations go further to help the cats in need in our community! $5 becomes $10, $50 becomes $100, and so on!! Every dollar counts and stays right here helping animals in our town. Every small donation adds up to big things in our community!

And if you can’t donate this time, it’s ok, sharing this post works too!! It all matters in rescue. 😻

Let’s fill the pantry!! 🐾🐈‍⬛

To donate:

Venmo https://venmo.com/u/Toni-Ray-11

PayPal

Cash App https://cash.app/$rescuegirl1968

** please note: feral food match on your donation

It was 9:00 p.m. and pouring down rain.

I was finally home after a very long day of cat rescue stuff. I had slipped into my comfy clothes and was ready to snuggle and play with my foster kittens — yes, I have fosters too. ❤️

My phone rang, but I let it go to voicemail.

I was loving on the kittens, feeling the tension of the day slowly melt away with the sound of their loud, rhythmic purrs.

The phone could wait.

At 9:30, I reached for my phone and played the voicemail.

First, I heard the intense cries of tiny kittens.

Then I heard his voice.

The same horrible voice from months ago.

The man who screamed ugly, vile things at me when I returned cats that had been TNR’d because he didn’t want them back — even though I had thoroughly explained how TNR works when I initially took in multiple litters of kittens from his property.

He thought he could bully me.

Then came the emotional blackmail:

“Just don’t come back. I’ll deal with them myself.”

Hearing his voice tonight instantly brought all of that tension rushing back.

I’ve driven past his house probably two dozen times since then. And every time, I had to deal with the tears and emotions as I saw fewer cats each time.

Until eventually…

I didn’t see any anymore.

That heavy, dull pit in my stomach.

That ache in my heart.

Knowing he had done exactly what he threatened to do. 💔

And now, months later, here he was — dialing my number with the cries of tiny kittens in the background.

Emotional blackmail.

Again.

I asked where the mom was.

He said he didn’t know.

He said he had started hearing the kittens crying yesterday, and today the crying had gotten worse and louder.

I have my suspicions about what happened to their mom. I suspect he trapped and dumped her without realizing she had kittens hidden somewhere until their cries became impossible to ignore.

And that possibility makes my blood boil.

Because this is what irresponsible humans do.

They create the problem, refuse to take responsibility for it, and then expect rescue to clean up the aftermath.

But the kittens didn’t choose any of this.

So I went.

I chose a public place and told him to meet me there with the kittens.

I was NOT going to his house.

I was not at his beck and call.

I put my coat on, walked out the door, called my friend Jackie, told her exactly what was happening, and had her stay on the phone with me while I went to meet him and get these babies.

Because this is the inexcusable crap we deal with in rescue.

The demands.

The manipulation.

The people who refuse to spay and neuter.

The people who create litter after litter and then expect rescuers to magically make the consequences disappear.

And somehow, we still show up.

Not for them.

For the cats.

For the ones who didn’t choose their circumstances.

For the tiny lives that are completely dependent on someone deciding they are worth saving.

So tonight, these little ones are safe.

They are warm.

They are fed.

And they are loved.

You’re safe now, little ones. We got you. ❤️

And THANK YOU, Michelle & Matt, for always taking my calls and for taking these babies in and giving them the amazing TLC they deserve.

This is rescue.

It isn’t always pretty.

Sometimes it’s exhausting. Sometimes it’s infuriating. Sometimes it hurts like hell.

But when those tiny cries turn into purrs…

We know why we keep showing up.

These are the ones that really p**s me off and tear my heart apart. 💔

I know his story without actually knowing it.

A kitten, given away for free. Loved on. Snuggled. Played with. Living the adorable kitten life… until those obnoxious boy hormones kicked in.

Then, somewhere along the way, he was put outside—or simply allowed to roam.

And those hormones took over.

Territory wars. Fighting. Injuries. Hunger. Exhaustion. An endless drive to mate, no matter how badly he was hurting or how depleted he became.

And every time he mated, there was another litter of kittens born outside—kittens whose moms would struggle, suffer and risk their lives trying to raise them and keep them safe.

Until the cycle started all over again.

That cycle ends here for this boy.

And it ends for the mom cat and two kittens trapped at the same location, because our fosters, Monique and Brett, said, “We are somebody.”

They refused to look away.

They refused to say someone else would handle it.

They stepped up, called for guidance and gave this little family a chance at something different.

Daddy G and his family will get healthier, safer, happier lives because two people decided that they mattered. He was neutered today, mom and the kittens go to the clinic on Monday.

And my goodness… this boy is the sweetest, most purringest boy! 🥹❤️

This is what rescue looks like.

Not just saving the cats we find.

Breaking the cycle so there are fewer cats suffering outside in the first place.

It takes a village. ❤️🐾 This is what we do together, because without you, our village, these life changing efforts wouldn’t be possible! 🐈‍⬛

Purrs & Whiskers Adoption Event 💜🐾

Hosted by our friends at
Hometown Pets - Springfield

🗓 Sunday September 27, 2026
⏰ 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Come see us and meet our fabulous felines who are ready to steal your heart and find their forever homes. 🐱✨

Start the new season with fur love, community, and second chances. Don’t miss it! 💕🐾

Read the bios for some of the available kitties here:

https://www.petfinder.com/search/cats-for-adoption/us/or/97477/

You can fill out an application at the link below, for processing prior to the event, or at the event!

https://www.cognitoforms.com/CommunityCatAdvocacyTeamSpringfieldCCATS/CCATSAdoptionApplication

** if you are a renter, please bring a copy of your rental/lease agreement with pet addendum (paper or electronic) to aid in the application approval process.

All cats and kittens available for adoption are spayed/neutered, vaccinated to age, treated against parasites, and microchipped!
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These are the things that make me most proud ..
one of my amazing foster families expanding their foot print as rescue warriors!! Spending their Saturday night together, working to end the cycle for a deserving stray mom cat in their neighborhood and ensure it never starts for her kittens!!
🙌🏻 Winning!! 🙌🏻

BACK TO SCHOOL Adoption Event 💜🐾

Hosted by our friends at
Hometown Pets - Springfield

🗓 Sunday September 13, 2026
⏰ 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Come see us and meet our fabulous felines who are ready to steal your heart and find their forever homes. 🐱✨

Start the new season with fur love, community, and second chances. Don’t miss it! 💕🐾

Read the bios for some of the available kitties here:

https://www.petfinder.com/search/cats-for-adoption/us/or/97477/

You can fill out an application at the link below, for processing prior to the event, or at the event!

https://www.cognitoforms.com/CommunityCatAdvocacyTeamSpringfieldCCATS/CCATSAdoptionApplication

** if you are a renter, please bring a copy of your rental/lease agreement with pet addendum (paper or electronic) to aid in the application approval process.

All cats and kittens available for adoption are spayed/neutered, vaccinated to age, treated against parasites, and microchipped!
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