The responsibility of caring for hundreds of cats may overwhelm some, but for Toni Ray, taking care of a dozen cat colonies is simply part of her daily routine.
Ray is the founder of Community Cat Advocacy Team of Springfield (CCATS), a licensed cat rescue operating in Springfield and the surrounding areas. She’s operated the rescue since 2014, but her foray into animal rescue began at 5 years old, when she said her grandma taught her how to care for kittens. Her dad would tell her, “If they’re out there, they’re going to find you.”
Decades down the line, Ray is fielding calls and messages every day regarding cats in need of a helping hand.
Community Cat Advocacy Team of Springfield’s local impact by the numbers
Ray said the amount of care she provides has drastically increased over the years. Within the first 10 months of CCATS’s establishment in 2014, she said she had performed 174 trap-neuter-returns (TNR), established 10 neighborhood cat colonies, rescued and rehomed 51 cats and had 17 cats in transition in her own home. So far this year, Ray said the rescue averages 22 TNRs a month, feeds and cares for 17 neighborhood cat colonies with 260 cats total and adopts out 14 cats per month.
The rescue has 22 foster family homes where cats are placed. Every day, morning and night, she feeds 10 cat colonies. A group of 11 volunteers helps feed other colonies.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I want to go back to this year.’ It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” Ray said about how much work she does for the rescue now compared to 11 years ago. “… So yeah, I’m tired, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s totally needed around here.”
She said CCATS uses foster families as a way to make the rescue process more personal and to help expose cats to diverse experiences that make them more well-rounded, adoptable pets. She said without the help of volunteers, foster families and her own family, the work she does wouldn’t be possible. While she loves what she does, she said it’s exhausting and the support she receives is essential to the rescue.
“I call them my village. Without them, I couldn’t do what I do,” Ray said. “Now we’ve come full circle because now my granddaughter helps me take care of the kitties that come through. She’s 9 now, she’s going to be the next generation of rescuers.”
What it takes to care for cat colonies
Taking care of free-roaming cats is no easy task. In addition to daily feeding, Ray provides medical care for cats in need. She said a major change she’s seen over the years is the skyrocketing cost of veterinary care that has gone “drastically through the roof.” Procedures like spays and neuters that would have cost about $125 in 2011 now can range in price from $300 to $600, depending on which clinic does the surgery. She said some veterinary clinics provide small discounts for rescues on certain services, but rescues do not get animal care for free and must cover the cost.
Ray said before the COVID-19 pandemic, she thought things were getting better for neighborhood cat colonies. She was seeing numbers of cats in need decline until the pandemic made getting veterinary appointments difficult and people who got free or cheap kittens during quarantine didn’t have their pets altered to keep population numbers low. Now, major contributors to the growing population of community cats include a lack of spaying and neutering and abandonment.
“The No. 1 thing that we need in our community that would make things better for cats would be better codes,” Ray said. “That is the No. 1 thing that I see is abandonment. It’s very frustrating to me as a rescuer, who is giving everything to help them, to not be able to have animal control to fall back on to assist me with that. If there were consequences, less of this would happen.”
Ray said Springfield’s animal control officers don’t often deal with cats unless animal abuse is involved. She said this means CCATS and other small rescues in the area are left to deal with animal abandonment cases. Animal abandonment is a violation of Lane County code, but Ray said there’s little follow-through to hold people who move away and leave their animals behind accountable.
She said other rescues will take cats in on a case-by-case basis, depending on how likely the animal is to be rehomed. On the contrary, she said she will help any cat that needs it.
“I’m one that believes if a cat needs help, I’m going to help it,” Ray said. “I don’t cherry-pick the pretty ones, I don’t cherry-pick the cute, fluffy ones. It’s a cat. That’s all I need to know.”
Severe animal neglect in Springfield
Cases of extreme neglect, such as a cul-de-sac in Springfield where 27 cats are living in yards without proper care, showcase how quickly a situation can go from bad to worse if left unchecked. Ray said she’s found entire litters of kittens in the area dead from flea infestations. Despite the sad state, she said she continues providing care there because she knows the cats need support.
“There’s a lot of tears. I cry a lot into my pillow because every day comes with its own challenges. … Every one in my rescue I have a piece of my heart with so there is a lot of heartache that comes with what I do,” Ray said. “I think to myself sometimes, ‘I can’t go through this again,’ but I do. I pick up and keep going because I know there are cats out there in need.”
To learn more about CCATS’s work and volunteer opportunities, head to ccatsrescue.org/.
About this series
Humans of Lane County is an ongoing series published at RegisterGuard.com and in the City & Region section of Sunday’s print edition. It’s our way of shining a light on the fascinating folks who make this place one of a kind. From artists and entrepreneurs to community builders and local legends, we’re telling their stories — one human at a time. Know someone you think we should feature? Email us your ideas at rgnews@registerguard.com.
Hannarose McGuinness is The Register-Guard’s growth and development reporter. You can reach her at hmcguinness@registerguard.com.
