Save the Mills College Cats, Promote TNR!

Mills College has a large feral cat population. The current policy set up by Campus Facilities regarding ferals is to trap them, remove them, and have them taken to the nearest shelter where they may be put to sleep. This petition aims to promote the welfare, safety, and awareness of the feral cats at Mills College. We want to feed, shelter, adopt/foster, and nurture these kitties. We want to advocate for their right to exist on campus and we want to maintain a sterile population to prevent the births of feral kittens, accomplished through spay/neuter.
 By signing the petition, you are advocating for the rights of these feral cats to exist on campus and you are strongly urging the Campus Facilities administrators to implement a TNR (trap-neuter-return) policy on campus so that these animals may continue to live out their lives in a sterile environment.  Some cats may indeed be able to be fostered and adopted but not all of them; some are very wild and will not approach humans. They still have a right to live in an environment that they know as 'home.' Volunteers will monitor the cats and feed them in colonies, which is the practice of such schools as Stanford University and the University of Texas. No money will be provided by the college for these services- they will be handled strictly by volunteers. The college will in no way have to put out time and energy for the caring of these cats, but we are asking for their permission to proceed. We want the college to understand that we are against the removal of cats off of campus if their lives are put into jeopardy by that removal.

Mills College has a large feral cat population. The current policy set up by Campus Facilities regarding ferals is to trap them, remove them, and have them taken to the nearest shelter where they may be put to sleep. This petition aims to promote the welfare, safety, and awareness of the feral cats at Mills College. We want to feed, shelter, adopt/foster, and nurture these kitties. We want to advocate for their right to exist on campus and we want to maintain a sterile population to prevent the births of feral kittens, accomplished through spay/neuter.
 By signing the petition, you are advocating for the rights of these feral cats to exist on campus and you are strongly urging the Campus Facilities administrators to implement a TNR (trap-neuter-return) policy on campus so that these animals may continue to live out their lives in a sterile environment.  Some cats may indeed be able to be fostered and adopted but not all of them; some are very wild and will not approach humans. They still have a right to live in an environment that they know as 'home.' Volunteers will monitor the cats and feed them in colonies, which is the practice of such schools as Stanford University and the University of Texas. No money will be provided by the college for these services- they will be handled strictly by volunteers. The college will in no way have to put out time and energy for the caring of these cats, but we are asking for their permission to proceed. We want the college to understand that we are against the removal of cats off of campus if their lives are put into jeopardy by that removal.

We the undersigned are submitting a petition for your approval to help the feral cat population at Mills College. We wish to promote the welfare, safety, and awareness of the feral cats at Mills College. We want to feed, shelter, adopt/foster, and nurture these kitties. We want to advocate for their right to exist on campus and we want to maintain a sterile population to prevent the births of feral kittens, accomplished through spay/neuter and that those individulas that cannot be adopted or fostered be allowed to remain on campus in a sterile population, while being cared for by volunteers. We are not asking for money or time, we are asking for your blessing to let us implement a TNR program, modeled after the Stanford Cat Network and used widely across America, on the Mills College campus. As a progressive women's college, we know that Mills advocates the rights of all things living. We the undersigned would like to raise awareness of the plight of feral cats through the Mills colony by helping them. We want all cats to be spayed/neutered so that unwanted litters are prevented. We want the cats to be fed and have clean water set out twice daily, to be removed by volunteers after the animals are done eating/drinking. We want their health and numbers to be monitored and documented. We want the public to see that Mills College helps animals in need and that Mills College advocates for TNR programs because TNR is a proven system, used all over America by such organizations as the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States. Please take our signatures to heart and know that we only have the best of intentions towards these animals. Thank you for your time and attention to this issue.