News

September 10, 2010 - The BAPBR Program is working well with everyone's hard work and donations. We have not had to ask for funding for awhile because of all your generous, continuous donations.

However, we are now in the position of having to buy food for the food pantry so our reserves are disappearing. Royal Canin and Iams, our sponsors, are not producing the same amount of overrun product so donations have diminished while requests have increased. At this point, we buy food for individual breeders and have had to stop the donations to shelters/groups. Royal Canin has allowed us to join the rescue food group so we can buy the food at the cost they charge the rescues, so that is a great help to us.

If any of you are in a position at this time to donate please do so as the need is only increasing. Our finances are handled by Leslie Falteisek and if you would like a copy of amounts spent on any rescue you have donated to this year, please don't hesitate to ask. Our books are open. We are also a 501(c)3 so your donations is tax deductable.

I know that lots of what we do never reaches the general population but I wanted you to read these emails because they say it better than I ever could! If course we have removed the names!

3/11/2010
Subject: Breeders Assistance
My name is CFA Breeder. My Cattery name is CFA Cattery. I have put off writing this message as long as I can, but find I must now do so. Your mission to help people neuter/spay and find adoptive homes, are the services I desperately need.
I do not wish to go into the lengthy details of my decline but I am gravely ill and have been for the last ten years. I am physically disabled and last year further causes of illness have determined that my time is limited. Due to medical bills my financial resources are strained. My husband is currently looking after the cats, but is unwilling to do so any longer and will probably not be in the picture soon.
My greatest fear and concern is that my cats will be placed in secure and safe home environments. If we find that cannot be ensured it would be better and more responsible to have them put down.
I currently have 44 ranging in age from 11 years to 2 years. A few are neutered / spayed, but most are not. My husband agreed to help me keep 8. These are the oldest who would be difficult to place and have some health issues. We will make the hard decisions when the time comes in regard to these.
Please let me know in what way you can help me.
Thank you for your time.
CFA Breeder

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5/25/2010
Subject: Thank You
Regional Coordinator, I just wanted to send you a personal note to extend my gratitude to the great service you did for me and my cherished cats. The decision to shut down my breeding program and having to place the bulk of my kits was heart wrenching and something I will never quite forgive myself for or be able to forget.
You made the experience bearable and offered not only the means but a great deal of comfort and compassion. There are so few people like you in CFA I do hope you can stay the course as I could not. As long as I am still here if there is any way in which I could help or assist you, please let me know I will happily bear testimony to anyone who is needing your services, but teetering on the edge. Also, give the valuable information that you are not just here to “take people’s cats away from them” due to shameful circumstances.
Many blessings always
CFA Breeder
JPs as I get my feet back under me I will be going through my cages, supplies, cage curtains, bowls etc…. I am going to offer them as donations to the 3 organizations that took my cats. It will be a bit yet, but I will get to it

Lastly I would like to share an email about our adoption page. It is helping people place cats to downsize their community of cats. If you know of anyone who needs our help please have them give us a contact us. Just a little reminder of why we do this - 9 cats found homes simply by being listed on the CFA BAP site :o)

A happy ending…
ALL of the cats have found homes. Please remove any postings regarding the cats. Thank you so much for all your help.! Please pass along our gratitude!
With much appreciation –

The Regional Coordinators try to be compassionate and not judge any of the cases. They work to involve the breeder in the decisions and make them part of the process, allowing them to have some control over the process. This is important in getting the kitties properly placed with all the information available. This is good for the kitties, good for the breeder and it also allows for closure.

Thank you to all of the wonderful people that are working in the BAPBR program. You do many wonderful things that no one ever knows about but the work does not go unnoticed!

If any of you would like to get involved with BAPBR, please contact your Regional Coordinator.

Thank you!
Linda Berg and the BAPBR Regional Coordinators

CFA and Royal Canin Continue to Aid Cats Through Food Pantry Program
Press Release | Media Contact: Linda Berg
Release Date: February 12, 2009

February, 2008

We now have the Umbrella of CFA Animal Welfare under which we have Breeders Assistance, Breed Rescue and the Food Pantry with Royal Canin. Linda Berg has appointed Sue Gleason as the new chair of Breeders Assistance. Sue has done a wonderful job of setting up the Midwest Region's infrastructure. The new Regional Coordinator for the Midwest is Cathy Dunham..

There is still some confusion about CFA's supported Rescue. The new CFA Breed Rescue program is one that works well in the Regions because it is based on a support system made up of you, the breeders. We realize that not all individuals have the time and space to do this kind of community service. For those of you who can help there are many ways to serve, including: pulling, grooming, fostering, vetting and on to placement. Like the Breeders Assistance Program of breeders helping breeders, we are breeders helping cats in situations of need all across the country.

In most cases the individuals who are involved with the cats are donating whatever monies it takes to get the job done. However, CFA Breed Rescue will still incur some expenses especially in cases of large numbers and they will come to you for financial assistance. If your club can do anything at your shows to help raise funds for situations like this in advance please do so. Any financial assistance is greatly appreciated.

Please get involved in your Region! This program works because of your involvement.

Report to the Board at the CFA Annual Meeting, July 2, 2007.

The Breeders Assistance Program has been in existence for a year. We have done a great deal of work this year to get the program up and running. We have a GREAT group of people, shelters, rescues, and vets who are really dedicated to helping. Confidentiality is what we stress, we are here to help and make the hard decision to ask for help much easier.

We have been asked how/if Animal Welfare fits into this --- that has become the last resort when all else fails. I receive a lot of complaints as the Chair of Animal Welfare and not all of them warrant an investigation but with the new BAP I can offer them assistance. Problems are created because of lack of knowledge or not having a good mentor. We have the head of the Mentor Committee Mary J. Sietsema, on our BAP list and when we can we will try to pair people up with a good mentor to work thru some of the problems before they become issues that warrant Animal Welfare.

We have helped approximately 20 Breeders across the country this year. Breeders that otherwise may have had to shut down have been enabled to recover, re establish good practices, and remain members of the CFA family. A few of the situations we have helped in are:

• An individual broke their back and needed help with the cats. Local breeders went in and cared for the cats until they were able to do it again themselves.
• A cancer victim in the last stages of their fight with the disease. The cats are already in foster care by the breeder and we helped with shipments of food.
• New limit laws in the Breeders hometown, they are given 10 days to comply or animals would be seized. The decision was made which cats were to leave. All the cats leaving were originally bred by other breeders, so breeders in the area fostered the cats until the original breeders could make arrangements to get them home safely.
• Breeder wanted to place some of the older cats they had inherited from a breeder that had died. We helped them by giving them ideas on how to advertise and found a local group who allowed them to put pictures up on their bulletin board. All animals were neutered and spayed by the individual and placed via this group.

You can see how we help is varied which is why nothing is written in stone. We want to be able to help individuals based on all needs, not every problem has a specific solution. However, every solution has the same outcome Breeders helping Breeders.

When Breeders Assistance was only a few months old the Midwest Region started a Food Pantry because there was a need for food in the individuals they were helping. They did food drives at the Midwest Shows. What was started as a regional project became a National Project when Royal Canin began to donate food.

We now not only help breeders who need assistance with food but shelters/rescues across the country. We started out by asking you to make recommendations of groups that you were familiar with and had worked with in conjunction with your shows. To date with Royal Canin we have shipped approximately 18,000 pounds of food around the country and Royal Canin has donated over 25,000 pounds. This does take money to make these shipments so when you are thinking of places to donate for judges gifts etc please put our name on the list.

This program allows us to take care of our own. Not with negativity and disdain but with compassion and caring. We do need volunteers in the Regions so if anyone shares our passion please contact your Regional Coordinators!

Linda Berg
Chair

New information flyers, designed for us by Royal Canin, concerning BAP are available for download. There is also letter to accompany food shipments.

Black & White Flyer | Color Flyer | Letter for Food Shipments