SBU Student Cat Network Funding

We, the undergraduate members of the SBU Student Cat Network, are writing to express our outrage at USG’s decision to cut our allocation by more than 75% from the previous year and to not consider our request for a supplementary allocation. As a result of this disproportionate cut, the activities of the Network are in serious jeopardy.

We are one of the largest student organizations on campus, with several hundred members, and the goals of the SBU Student Cat Network represent commonly-held values among the population of people who contribute Student Activity Fees. The slashing of the budgeted allocation to this group shows that these values have been dismissed by USG’s governing body, and we are angry.

We assert, in no uncertain terms, that as members of the SBU Student Cat Network, we uphold its multi-faceted mission:

a.       To humanely care for and to control the population of feral and stray cats living on SBU’s campus. (We acknowledge that feral cat populations on university campuses typically arise when animals are dumped at the end of the school year by campus residents.)

b.      To provide educational opportunities by veterinarians and naturalists for our student members, and to prepare interested members for application to relevant graduate and professional programs.

c.       To match relevant members to volunteer opportunities in the surrounding region that can strengthen candidacy for graduate training programs, professional training programs, fellowships, and jobs.

Our own needs are met in three important ways:

a.       This organization serves important personal values, similar to the way that other clubs founded on religious or cultural heritage do.  We want to be able to use some of our Student Activity Fees to save lives. This is what we care about, and it is at least as important to us as throwing USG-sponsored parties or buying equipment for recreational activities.

b.      Several meetings throughout the year allow us to socialize with and learn from like-minded peers and experts. This is similar to other clubs who are founded on other types of common interest.

c.       Through this organization, we have access to important experiences we can include on our resumés, including volunteering, working with outside members of the community, and observing surgeries at local veterinary offices. In addition to being an extraordinarily effective force for good in the world, this organization provides unique pre-professional opportunities.

We have done amazing things on campus for 8 years, and we serve as a model for other similar student groups around the country. We are nationally known and have won national recognition, yet we operate on a shoestring, constantly desperate for the funds we need to do our work. We can’t continue to operate without substantial backing from USG; we simply can’t.

Management of the campus cat colonies is not something that can survive with on-again, off-again support. One year of reduced trap-and-neuter activity will lead to many years of playing catch-up with animals that are having litters twice a year.

If the members of the USG governing body have any doubts about our personal commitment to this cause, or about whether our fees are properly used for purposes of the humane care of the animals we care so deeply about, we urge you to meet with our officers to request further clarification. In the meantime, the cats who live on their own on campus will struggle through another brutal winter.