Kitten season is here in Niagara, meaning animal shelters are beginning to experience an influx of newborn kittens coming in — some more than they can handle.
In that regard, local animal welfare group Community Initiative for Animal Rescue is working to support shelters in the area experiencing rescue costs beyond what they can cover.
The group spent its second anniversary weekend at Reif Estate Winery’s Mother’s Day market informing the public that rescue groups across Niagara are struggling to keep pace with rising foster care and veterinary costs during one of the busiest intake periods of the year.
Kitten season is the time of year, starting in the early spring until the fall, when the days get longer and female cats that go outdoors go into heat and can have multiple litters, creating an influx of kittens in the cat population.
“One of the local rescue groups out of St. Catharines is already inundated with kittens,” said Tanya Rice, founder of the animal welfare group. “So you know what we did last week? We transferred them a boatload of money.”
The emergency transfer covered supplies including kitten milk replacement formula, a product Rice said has climbed sharply in price over the past decade.
“When I started fostering 10 years ago, you could buy like a 500-gram tin for like $37, $40 with taxes. It runs about $60 now.”
Foster volunteers caring for orphaned litters mix the formula through overnight feedings. Rice said she is seeing larger litters this season, which she attributed to older cats entering rescue intake. Larger litters typically signal older mothers, she said, and place greater strain on foster homes already stretched thin.
The group does not operate a shelter or handle adoptions. It absorbs costs that rescue organizations cannot cover through their own fundraising, stepping in when intake volume outpaces a group’s resources.
Rice, who attended the market with her mother, said returning to Reif Estate — where Community Initiative for Animal Rescue launched two years earlier — was as much about visibility as revenue.
“Our expectations were once again to remind the community what we do, remind the community that we do not shelter, rescue, or adopt animals, that we are here to assist the rescue groups with financial assistance.”
Community Initiative for Animal Rescue fundraises for local animal rescues and educates the public about spaying, neutering, vaccinations and microchipping as long-term measures to reduce shelter pressure.
Rice said public recognition has grown considerably, and donations from local bakers, a nursery supplying berry shrubs and a chef volunteering to co-ordinate Christmas baking have followed.
“People are really remembering and recognizing who we are in the community and what our initiative does,” said Rice.
The animal welfare group’s next fundraising event will be a plant sale on May 23 that runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1709 Four Mile Creek Rd., at the corner of Penner and Four Mile Creek roads.
Fruit shrubs including raspberry, blackberry and loganberry start at $15, with hostas ranging from $8 to $20 depending on size. Vegetable seedlings donated by East West Acre will also be available. Rice said the sale is designed to be accessible, with most items priced to move, rather than maximize revenue.
