Officials with Hawthorne Race Course, the United States’ second oldest family-owned and operated horse racing track, have announced that the track has created a partnership with three of Chicago's most reputable humane organizations to care for a feral cat colony that lives amidst its horse barns and maintenance facilities.
PAWS Chicago, Tree House Humane Society and Triple R Pets will work together to develop and implement a plan to care for the cats, including feeding, veterinarian services, neutering/spaying, home rehabilitation and return to their natural habitat at Hawthorne.
"Racetracks all across the nation have feral cat colonies, and many horsemen also have barn cats in their stables," said Tim Carey, the fourth-generation president and general manager of Hawthorne Race Course. "Hawthorne is no different, especially in that we're located in an industrial zone. By working with these organizations we can manage the size of the colony, keep the cats healthy and prevent other animals, like skunks and raccoons that pose health risks to horses, from becoming a nuisance."
Previously, Hawthorne's feral cat colony had been managed by a local volunteer who had daily access to the facility. Effective Thursday, November 6, and with no interruption in feeding or care, the three highly-reputable organizations will exclusively begin to provide animal care with more available resources, professional services and fully established networks of animal foster care homes.
Additionally, Hawthorne has announced that it will offer free veterinarian services for the cat colony and will connect each organization with horse owners and trainers that may be looking for cats (from off-site) to work as barn and stable cats at Hawthorne or on their own farms. In partnership, the parties will also work with volunteers to build new shelters for the cat colony on-site at Hawthorne.
"On our initial visit we did not see any starving cats and Hawthorne has committed to taking responsibility for the daily feeding of the cats immediately until we have new volunteers to share in this effort," said Jenny Schlueter, the director of Development and Community Cats for Tree House, on behalf of the organizations.
"There were several designated feeding stations that were ideal for the cat colony and we designated two new sites where we will establish new winter housing for the cats. We have a plan in place to catch any unaltered cats, provide specific care as needed and evaluate options for finding foster homes for socialized cats or returning feral cats to the Hawthorne colony."
"I've worked on-site at Hawthorne Race Course for years and have never seen any evidence of abuse or starvation of the cat colony here,” said Dawn Folker, the State of Illinois’ veterinarian for Thoroughbred Racing. “We have an obligation as licensed animal doctors to care for all of the animals on the backstretch, not just horses. With this partnership these cats will now get even better care."
(With files from Hawthorne Race Course)
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