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Valerie Frazier’s life changed significantly when her daughter, Amanda, convinced her to foster an animal through the Philadelphia Animal Control and Care Association in January 2008.
Frazier thought her 19-year-old was just being a "typical teenage kid looking for a cause," which she deemed noble enough. Somewhat reluctantly, she agreed to care for a dog as PACCA sought a permanent home for it. The mother and daughter were met with an emaciated, abused canine. The pit bull mix that should have been well over 60 pounds only weighed about 36. Frazier was told he was found chained to a fence and, from the scarred wounds on his body, judged he could have been a bait dog in the world of dog-fighting.
"I just absolutely melted at that moment. I’ll never forget," Frazier said.
She took Peanut, as he came to be know, to a vet in Hickory Valley, where she learned he had acute pneumonia. After three days of fluid and antibiotic treatment, Frazier took the pet home, but he quickly relapsed. During her next visit, the doctor told her Peanut might have blood poisoning and, even with a transfusion, might not survive.
After spending about $1,500 to save his life, Frazier eventually decided on euthanization, an ordeal Frazier described as "traumatic."
For about a year after that, Frazier volunteered at rescue organizations with her daughter. She appreciated the good work they did, but really wanted to get into the community and work directly with people.
"If you give people the time they need to understand and help them with the stray, you help more animals," she said.
The experience triggered her founding of Prancing Paws Animal Rescue, a no-kill, nonprofit rescue shelter that aims to stop the feral cat overpopulation, specifically in South Philadelphia. Since the Sept. 18 launch, Prancing Paws has rescued more than 100 felines, which are a particular mission of the group. Frazier decided to focus on cats simply because there are more of them.
"You don’t see the stray dogs anymore like you do stray cats," she said.
Frazier receives about 40 calls a month about strays, which vary from a single cat to a mother cat with kittens; half are people requesting someone pick the animal or animals up.
"They’ll say, ‘My cat just had a litter of kittens and I don’t want any of them.’ We tell them if you’re willing to foster them, we’ll get them taken care of, and if not, please take them to the shelter," Frazier said.
Even with so many calls, it is difficult for her to turn down even one.
"Do I want to see it euthanized? Absolutely not, but I don’t want to see it set on fire or duct-taped," she said of the cats she saves.
When taken in at Prancing Paws via the trap-neuter-release style, the cats and kittens coming to the organization are examined by a vet, spayed or neutered, tested for feline leukemia and HIV, vaccinated and treated for fleas and worms before they are eligible for adoption. Only feral, or wild, cats are released back where they were found because owning one would "be like trying to have a pet raccoon," Frazier said.
Philadelphia Community Cats Council, a citywide coalition of animal organizations that humanely seek to reduce the stray and feral cat population, takes care of Prancing Paws charges’ basic medical needs. For $25, ferals and strays are fixed and receive their shots, as well as a dosage of flea and tick control, Frazier said. The service is available three times a week at the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at 350 E. Erie Ave.
Prancing Paws operates entirely out of private foster homes and provides families with the cat’s medical treatments, food and litter. Prior to Thanksgiving, the organization had four foster homes, but are down to two after the cats were transferred to the Monster Pets, which works with Prancing Paws, to adopt out the cats.
Frazier would like to have more foster homes involved, but "the bigger you get, the more responsibility you have, and many homes would require more medical care," Frazier said, adding foster applications are available on the Prancing Paws Web site at www.ppar.rescuegroups.org.
The purpose of foster care is to get the cats off the streets, but after they are fully vetted, they are taken to the pet and supply store at 1946 S. Columbus Blvd. and the one in Audubon, N.J. The local Monster Pets recently constructed a "cat room" in order to accommodate feline guests until their adoptions. Monster Pets adopts anywhere from five to 15 cats out on a monthly basis, according to Regional Manager Susan Hoagland.
"They’ve been going really well," she said of the process.
Prancing Paws caught Hoagland’s attention when Frazier contacted Monster Pets for donations and support.
"I said, ‘We’ll do better than that. Please use our storefront for adoption,’" Hoagland recalled.
Frazier added, "They’ve been absolutely wonderful to us. My daughter called every single pet store in the area until she found Monster Pets, and they told us they would work with us."
After connecting with the local store and spending more time in South Philly, Frazier said she was "absolutely appalled" at the number of stray cats roaming the streets.
"I will never forget the image of the amount of cats running back and forth in the street under cars," she said.
If a person who finds a stray cannot afford or is unwilling to pay the $25 through Prancing Paws to spay or neuter it, the group will try to foot the bill or start a pool of money from the person’s block.
"I’ll go to the block captains because they know people on the block and ask, ‘Can you keep me informed? When you have a block party could some of money go to rescue?’ If everyone does a little, it won’t be overburdening to one person," Frazier said.
Frazier stressed the importance of owner responsibility when it comes to sterilization. When people overlook this responsibility and decide they do not want their pets anymore, or the cat runs away, the feline population has the potential to explode.
"It only takes that one unfixed cat," she said, adding, "The cat on the street suffers horribly."
Frazier believes the overpopulation is mostly due to lack of education on the matter.
"I like to think a decent human being wants to do something … I have to believe the majority of South Philly people just don’t know, and with a little bit of outreach the problem can be solved," she said.
While still trying to put together an "ultimately cohesive movement," Frazier said networking to find like-minded people is an important part of that. She works closely with Green Street Cat Rescue in the Fairmount section and Philadelphia Community Cats Council.
"We need to support each other," she said. "As horrible as it is, this is why you do what you do. The people I work with are the best people I have ever met on this entire planet."
For more information on Prancing Paws Animal Rescue, visit http://ppar.rescuegroups.org/ or e-mail pparcats@gmail.com.
