It all started back in Newberry, South Carolina with the sounds of pitiful mewing under the front porch. Terrified though I was of snakes, spiders, cockroaches, and all the other awful things that lurk under front porches, I could not ignore those pitiful cries. A belly crawling search located three abandoned kittens. I didn’t know it then, but Daisy Street Waifs and Strays was born under that muddy porch. The kitties thrived, but then I took a new job in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Couldn’t very well leave the now semi-friendly kitties so I caught them, crated them and relocated them to 509 Daisy Street. Once I started feeding them outside, other cats, many other cats, hordes of cats showed up. And those cats had kittens. Hordes of kittens.

 

What We Do

Since I have always been a strong advocate of spaying and neutering as the only humane method of addressing the horrendous, sickening, and inexcusable animal population control problem in this country, I started catching them, cat by cat, and having them neutered. One day in early May, 2006, when I was glumly eyeing my credit card bills, a light went on! A not-for-profit would at least allow me to write off the substantial food and vet bills. After stacks and stacks of paperwork, Daisy Street Waifs and Strays was formally incorporated on June 16th, 2006, and has been in the business of reducing the neighborhood cat population, cat by cat.

 

Daisy Street Waifs and Strays is committed to feeding, neutering and providing minimal veterinarian care for the stray cats and dogs in the Daisy Street area of Goldsboro, North Carolina. To date, DSWS has neutered thirty-nine cats, two thirds of which were females. Not being a statistician, I don’t know how much these actions have lowered the number of cats around Daisy Street, but it is a large number. Although it is hard to believe, the ASPCA information indicates that I have reduced the cat population by hundreds of thousands of cats. I have also placed three dogs and seven cats. Finances permitting, we will branch out to a wider area, humanely reducing the feral and homeless cat population one cat at a time.

 

Why?

I am an ardent believer in the “one person, one small action” philosophy. I cannot agree with people who see a stray cat or dog and ignore it because “I am only one person, and there are too many cats, dogs, or whatever. What difference does one make?”

I say one person, one action makes a lot of difference. If everyone who saw one small problem – be it a feral cat, a stray dog, or a hungry child, we could eventually conquer pet overpopulation and world hunger.

One cat at a time. One dog at a time. One child at a time.  One neighborhood at a time.

One small action at a time.

 

Results

There are no pregnant cats in my neighborhood. No squalling females, no fighting males, no litters of kittens. NONE. Two years ago, I had as many as  eighteen to thirty-two kittens.

Now, I have twelve to fifteen neutered cats, and four dogs.

 

Donations

Any donations are cheerfully accepted, acknowledged and tax deductible. We accept PayPal or checks. Our mailing address is Daisy Street Waifs and Strays, c/o Linda J. Holland-Toll, 509 Daisy Street. Goldsboro, NC 27530