About
I chose to trap, spay, neuter, return, and foster over 350 community cats and kittens in my hometown of Calipatria, California.
This has been a labor-intensive and costly undertaking, but the goal has always been to reduce the number of vulnerable kittens born in this desert community, where temperatures can exceed 118°F for nearly half the year. Through Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR), community cats can live healthier lives while preventing future litters.
While working full-time as a teacher, I coordinated with members of the community to make this work possible. Friendly kittens and social cats were fostered until they could be adopted through Southern Counties Rescue, while healthy community cats were safely returned to their outdoor homes after being spayed or neutered.
Today, the cats and kittens featured throughout this website are part of that journey, and every successful TNR project helps create a healthier future for both the cats and the Calipatria community.
Your support is sincerely appreciated. Every purchase, donation, and act of kindness helps continue this mission and improves the lives of community cats. Thank you for being part of the difference.
The City of Calipatria Supports My Mission of TNR in The City of Calipatria.
This work has grown into Calipatcats, a volunteer-driven Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) initiative that allows me to continue improving the lives of community cats—one cat at a time.
Working alongside members of the community, veterinarians, foster families, and Southern Counties Rescue, I coordinate TNR efforts, provide medical care when needed, and foster friendly kittens and social cats until they are ready for adoption.
Every cat that is spayed or neutered helps prevent future litters, and every successful adoption gives a deserving cat the opportunity to find a loving forever home.
Calipatcats continues to grow thanks to the generosity of donors, volunteers, foster families, veterinary partners, and supporters who share my belief that every community cat deserves compassion and a healthier life. Together, we are making a lasting difference for the cats of Calipatria.
Important People
Brianna Camacho for her tireless devotion to getting cats trapped, and for her bravery, astuteness, quick thinking, sense of humor, and cooperative spirit for the mission of helping cats. Her ability to rise above all of the things that can happen during a trap job stands out as a testament to her character. I only wish her mom was my mom.
Annayeli Cruz for her engineering skills, cooperation, sense of humor and hard work, and her sister, Justine, for being the backstory to helping socialize kittens and treating cats with TLC. Her willingness to jump in to a situation and be successful were hugely important to me.
Samantha Garcia for her attention to detail, care for cats, incredible strength, and perseverance during a difficult time. She still made it to each trap job and the work following it, with élan, and she has a marvelous sense of humor.
Leanna Solomon, without whom we could not have trapped 36 cats at the prison. Her sharp eye, intelligence, devotion to animals, and logical mind made the entire operation there much easier than it would have been. She has been enormously successful at problem solving for us, while carrying enormous workloads of her own. I don't know how she does it.
Marcella Beltran was and continues to be the most instrumental person we have, in feeding multiple hordes of cats daily, as well as locating most of the trap jobs we've done and continue to do. Calipatcats would be impossible to do without her. Her heart is one of the best I have known when it comes to caring for cats. She has trapped and fixed many cats on her own dime in the last 10 years. She has so much class and is able to do this work through her own difficulties. Bravo! Glad she is on the team.
Rina Carranza is remarkable because her values, heart, and actions are so obviously aligned when she comes through daily to feed cats that have been neglected, sick, and malnourished. She will also run cats to the vet on her own dime to help them have better lives. Her remarkable character to travel distances to care for the cat population, consistently feed cats, and manage her own household makes her just shine brightly. Glad she is on the team.
Lastly, Wendy Chavez, the newest member of the team, shows up with such energy. Her constant refrain of, "I can do it" is really special because despite everything that can happen, she is about moving forward, getting it done, making it happen. She has a lot of integrity, following through with things that are asked with enthusiasm. Plus, she has a great sense of humor. So glad she is part of this team. The future of TNR work in Calipatria looks brighter because of her.
These are the important people who helped make Calipatcats.org possible.
