How it all started

Imagine you are locked away in a medium security prison, feeling lonely, abandoned and seemingly without a friend in the world.  Your only solace is in the satisfaction of feeding and caring for cats who face the same life as you; having no loving home to feel protected and secure.

S.N.K.I. was born in 2009 and gained prominence/recognition as a result of 17 feral cats who made their home inside the walls of a prison just outside Kingston, Ontario.  The colony had been around for about 20 years, but prison officials had finally had enough, and wanted the cats removed.

The inmates had grown so attached to the cats that they had circulated a petition amongst themselves gathering 300 signature out of 345, hoping that a solution could be found.  They loved the cats and did not want to see them face a certain fate. Shouts of  'save our cats, save our cats, save our cats' could be heard from the heartbroken inmates.

Step in, Spay Neuter Kingston Initiative.  This caring group of volunteers desperately wanted to save the cats, so made a proposal to the prison officials. After a long and intense media campaign, the proposal was eventually accepted.  All the cats were live trapped, visited with the veterinarian to get spayed/neutered and vaccinated, 'ear tipped' (to be identified as having been attended to) and then returned to their prison colony.  Their litters of kittens were taken in by foster families, and over time, were placed with loving families.  In addition, special high quality shelters were built and placed around the prison grounds to offer protection for the cats from the rain, heat or severe cold.

Lily - spayed and returned to the prison colony

Casey - first kitten from Bath Institution to be adopted out

Not every story has a purrfect ending.  This one does; the cats are loved and cared for and the inmates can continue to receive companionship knowing that they saved the lives of innocent animals. 

Dakota - adopted and renamed Faust

Rose - spayed and returned to the colony

Daphne - adopted and renamed Chelsea

Chrys - neutered and adopted; poor fella was targeted by one of the adult cats and needed to be removed!  Now he has a loving home.

Jewel aka Crazy Legs

In my view, this sheds a whole new light on society's view of prison inmates and their capacity for compassion.

Fast forward to June 2014.  S.N.K.I. has now stabilized over 20 "managed"  feral cat colonies in and around Kingston, are currently working to stabilize 11 more and have numerous colonies on the waiting list.  Without the dedicated work of the S.N.K.I. volunteers, our objectives to reduce cat overpopulation could not be met. 
Please consider helping.  Every little bit counts.
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