This September, Count and I once again participated in the annual Ca-R-Ma cat walk!
Well, it was Count's debut marathon. Fortunately, he had me to advise him on training.
This 2km fundraising walk occurs every September in Centennial Park, Moncton, NB.
Ca-R-Ma stands for Cat Rescue Maritimes! You can check out the Ca-R-Ma website to learn more. Here we are procuring monies for them at the local Liquor store! We do this semiannually.
When representing a charity it is vital to appear professional. Here I am wearing my volunteer badge. This session, according to Count, we raised over $100 in four hours.
We also passed out a lot of pamphlets! Here I am keeping them warm. Yes! Please take one!
In order to amass pledges, we must attend numerous public venues! Here are Vladimir and myself at the local grocery store. He had been soliciting outside the pet store but was rained out!
In another appeal for funds, we sold autographed pictures of ourselves to our fans!
All our cards shared our greatest passions. Obviously, Count's was Arithmomania.
You can collect them like baseball cards but they do not come with bubble gum.
Next year we plan to include cat nip with each card!
Our fans could receive a card for a $5 donation!
Some of our fans sent us photos of them with their card collections!
Here is my girlfriend Cookie with hers!
What a beautiful Sphynx! No, I am not speaking about myself!
Look at the gorgeous furs on this kitty!!!
Count helped me tally up all our charitable donations and we raised a grand total of $706.73!! Yes that is more than in the photo because we received an additional $10 at the cat walk!
Not only do we fundraise for Ca-R-Ma, but we also help them trap and neuter strays. Then we try to find them homes. Here is a photo of 10 of 13 strays that showed up ALL AT ONCE in our backyard this summer!
One mother liked to feed her kittens on our back step. Since we gave them food and water they decided to stay!
We found homes for these two kittens and their new owners neutered them.
The majority of the kittens were tame, but a few were feral and had to be trapped in order to get them to their neutering appointment.
This adorable guy was feral but we were still able to find him a home once neutered!
This kitten was very fast!
Ca-R-Ma's purpose is to trap, neuter and return stray cats back to their environment. They also vaccinate, apply some parasite control and treat any injuries before release. Some people think re-releasing them is cruel, however it helps control cat over population without euthanasia. Neutering also helps prevent the spread of disease and decreases dangerous roaming.
Many strays are not used to human contact and are quite happy being returned to the wild. The reality of alternatively placing these cats in overcrowded shelters is often extermination, not adoption.
We nicknamed this kitten "Jaws" because he bit Daddy quite badly! Still, we were able to get him and his mother, in the picture above this, neutered and comfortable enough with humans to be placed in a home together!!
Sadly, 2 kittens were killed by cars before we could help them. This apricot kitten is one who did not make it. We successfully homed the remaining 11, including the two older mothers! From our group of 13 kittens, Ca-R-Ma neutered 5 of them which helped us get them homes before winter.
Two days after we homed the last of the kittens, and mothers, this stray showed up! We had her spayed and in a home within a week! Fortunately, this colour of cat is popular and attracts more people.
Word of our feline philanthropies continued to spread and a kind stranger showed up at our door with this 4 month old in the middle of winter. At -20 C this kitten had been lying on the road all day. It was not injured, just cold and lost, likely driven to the countryside and abandoned. We had it neutered and homed within days.
Speaking of cold, it started out quite nippy and wet on the day of our Ca-R-Ma cat walk! We wore our rain gear and were bundled into our stroller.
There was a great band performing to help warm up the crowd! Yes, they did play "What's New Pussycat?"
It was an event packed with many informative aspects.The canine unit showed up to do a presentation on pet CPR!
Afterwards, the instructor hung out with Count and exchanged pleasantries.
"What do you get when you divide a jack-o-lantern's circumference by it's diameter? Pumpkin Pi!! Ah Ah Ahhhh!"
There were even other celebrities, aside from moi! Count had his photo taken with Sylvester!
...and "Wild Willy" from the Moncton Wildcats hockey team!
Oooh! He looks a little ferocious here!
Here he is cuddling with some Ca-R-Ma cats!
The Chickadee Cat Club put on a "faux" cat show to educate the public on how feline competition works! Count's sister "Admiral" volunteered first.
Beautiful wrinkles and lemon shaped eyes, essential for Sphynx!
Then Daddy and Count engaged the crowd and he modelled my reversible skull raincoat!
Finally, the race began! Here we are at the starting line where Count is showing off something he liked to call "Popping a wheelie". Ridiculous.
I expected Sylvester and Wild Willy to go much faster with their long legs! They must not have trained as seriously as we did.
Count piggy backed most of the way! Yes Count, TWO kilometers! Was that lightning?
After the race, the sun came out a little and Count and I were able to stroll nude...
...and contemplate a BBQ! Yes Count, THREE Canadian geese, a protected species unfortunately!
Then it was time for the awards ceremony! We won first place for most funds raised!!!! There were toys and treats...
And a fantastic box!!! It was not as cool as the "Almond 2000" box we won at last year's 2011 Ca-R-Ma Walk, but still very special!
And of course, we were not the only cats with flashy transportation!
Though I did notice that none of these Divas had to share their front seat!
This kitty needed an extra large stroller to accommodate his long pretty furs!
We were also not the only felines on leash!
Who says cats do not do leashes?
After the festivities, Count was stuffed back into my stroller with me.
Though I really detest having to share, it does have its perks. First, it was warmer with him...
...And I was saved from the work of bathing myself!
Alright Count, I think your knee is in my spleen!
Count and I give the 2012 Ca-R-Ma Cat Walk 5 meows out of 5!
Time for a nap.
Do not forget to check out ALL my other blog reviews! Just choose a date under the "More of my Adventures" heading in the upper right column.
© 2012 Aislynne
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