FOGAS not renewing cat shelter contract

After 18 years of service, The Friends of Gonzales Animal Shelter will not renew its contract with the city of Gonzales as a cat shelter.

During its 18 years of service, the non-profit organization has run as a “no-kill” facility, and no cats were killed to make space for new intakes, from FOGAS press release.

“This was achieved largely through grants providing just over $500,000 in new funds from outside our community,” the press release stated. “These funds were mainly for spay/neuter of dogs and cats owned by county residents and trap/neuter/return to field for community owned cats.”

Due to old age, three of the FOGAS’s most active volunteers are in their 80s and dealing with health challenges.

“We, like 70% of animal rescue groups, will not be operating a shelter. We’ll revert to being a foster care network and seek out additional spay/neuter grants as we always have,” the press release continued.

FOGAS member Chris Weaver said the shelter has a lot property, equipment, and possessions that a new group can use.

Weaver added when they started the shelter, they did all the cleaning, before the city did it, and that it was a massive job taking care of the kittens.

“In this part of the world, we have two kitten seasons, because we'll have an influx. Right now, we're in the thick of the kitten season, and then we'll have another kitten season in September. It's a big job to take care of strays,” Weaver said.

Finding volunteers has been challenge for FOGAS, and Weaver said the organization has been doing that on a daily basis, but most people want a salary.

“It probably has to be people that are retired that can do this just because their hearts in it. And it's a pretty thankless job and an unending job,” Weaver said.

In 2022, FOGAS reported that 500 plus cats were rescued by fostering, adoption, Barn Tiger Program and TNR Rehoming; 90 dogs and 135 cats in community-owned areas were neutered at no cost.

Weaver said there are some in the community who think cats should not be part of the community, but she added if you live in a community with neighbors, the cat are part of it.

“It is part of living in a community that there will be stray cats. And a lot of people don't like that. But you would be trapping hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of animals every year to eliminate cats in a community and with this climate that we live in, you're not gonna stop it,” Weaver said.

FOGAS hopes that a new contractor will be another rescue group, and stated whoever it is, they are committed to provide the support they can make for a smooth transition.

Gonzales City Manager Tim Crow said they appreciated FOGAS and their work for many years.

“They've done some really wonderful things with the animals. And, they're going to be missed and they had a positive impact for the cat community in our in our area,” Crow said.

With the group not renewing its contract with the city, Crow is looking at different possibilities for the cat shelter; options include adding an animal control officer to help facilitate the cat shelter or have another non-profit group to make proposal, he said.

“We're in the very early stages of planning for that; this change will happen at the end of September, beginning of October. And so we're just in the very beginning steps of putting that plan together,” Crow said.