Cat Shelter Building Workshop, Toronto Street Cats, Toronto, ON

From 10am to 2pm, I was at a cat shelter building workshop organized by Toronto Street Cats ... I'd attended my first one two weeks ago.  It's so nice helping the kitties in Toronto keep warm and dry during the cold winter.  My friend, Darlene, is a "lead" (so instructs everyone on what to do).

Our mission: improve the lives of Toronto’s homeless cats by offering spay/neuter services, free for feral cats, and building overwintering shelters. We are also working to increase public awareness about Toronto’s homeless cat population and the importance of spay/neuter and trap/neuter/return (TNR). 

We are part of the Toronto Feral Cat Coalition, working together to implement strategic TNR programs to sterilize Toronto’s feral cats, decrease shelter intake and reduce euthanasia rates.

The workshops are held throughout the fall and winter season in the garage of the Toronto Humane Society  The shelters built are then made available to caretakers and colonies in need for $15.

Kevin and Kali got everyone signed in

Insulation was cut for inside the bins.

My first task was to cut the insulation for the top

Here were the bins which would soon be made into the cat shelters.

The cut insulation was secured inside the bins.

Thom then drilled entrance holes into the bins.

I then started attaching the entrance tubing.

Before

After

The bins were then ready for straw.

Notices were glued to the top of the lids.

And then they are ready for sale!

It was a nice surprise when my friend, Trish, arrived to buy two shelters ... she is a volunteer colony feeder.

Today was maxed out with about 50 volunteers.  Our goal was to build 125 shelters ... 151 new shelters were built, 46 used shelters were stripped bared, cleaned and prepped ready to build next time and loads of straw given away for free (for folks to replenish their existing shelters)!