It takes a large budget to care for as many free-roaming cats in Rhode Island as possible. Thankfully, the Hayden Foundation awarded PawsWatch Community Cat Center a $10,000 grant.
Hayden Foundation Executive Director George Panichas and Board Member Cindy Rondeau presented PawsWatch Treasurer Andi Amitrano with the check Monday at the Center on 39 Putnam Pike in Johnston.
“Our responsibility is to take care of the free-roaming cats,” said PawsWatch Fundraising Manager Martine Ireland, referring to cats that don’t have indoor homes. “Our mission is to try to save as many of these poor little wranglers from harm and to give them a better life.”
PawsWatch volunteer Donna Ottaviano submitted the grant proposal in February. “It’s easy for me to write grants, so I’m glad that I can do it for them,” she said. She has adopted two cats from PawsWatch, Bixby and Desperado.
“Being a volunteer for a nonprofit, there’s nothing better,” said Ottaviano. “Everyone loves animals, that’s all anyone talks about here. It’s a nice environment.”
PawsWatch is a mostly volunteer-run organization that started in Newport in 1997 and has been housed on Putnam Pike since Grieco Automotive Group offered their space in 2017. The Johnston facility “has made it significantly easier to take care of the cats,” allowing them to support an in-house adoption team and a veterinary surgical team, Ireland said.
PawsWatch has funded the veterinary care of over 25,000 feral, stray or abandoned cats across Rhode Island, according to its website.
The organization practices the Trap-Neuter-Release-Monitor (TNRM) protocol, meaning they trap stray cats and provide them with veterinary care, including neuter or spay services, before releasing them back outdoors. PawsWatch also places socialized cats and kittens into adoption programs.
The Donald P. and Elaine M. Hayden Foundation is a Cranston-based organization operating out of offices on Park Avenue that provides financial support to educational (specifically STEAM and the trades) and animal welfare nonprofits in Rhode Island.
The funding from the grant targets the various resources that the cat center needs to take care of the animals, ranging from medical equipment to kitten food.
“We don’t want people to think we’re all set now,” said Ireland. “This is what you would call a drop in the bucket.” Ireland is trying to raise $20,000 from donations this year, a comparable figure to what was raised last year.
PawsWatch is in need of volunteers, with tasks ranging from in-shelter care, fostering, TNRM, transportation and more. Please fill out the volunteer application on PawsWatch’s website, https://pawswatch.org.
PawsWatch is fundraising through an online auction in October. “It’s our next big thing,” Ireland says. PawsWatch is looking for donations from the community of gift cards or other items that can be auctioned off as well as sponsorships from local businesses.
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