Same Dog, Different Owner

[jtuck004]

34. Other people did all the work. I just borrowed knowledge from what they did.

As far as zoning - it won't be a problem if the city, or an authority, is doing it. I suspect the larger the city the more possibility of problems (especially if Chris Christie is the mayor, but that's another post).

It's also easier if you find pockets of need. In this case it's a small city far enough away, and populated by people who must live on aid of various sorts that it impacts their ability to get medical care, much less vet care.

You have to have this in a public place. Like a school, or maybe firehouse. That's the kind of community-driven thing this has to be. You can do it, and it has been done, in empty shopping mall spaces, but it begins to turn commercial, the kids aren't as involved, the environment isn't the same, it's much harder to engender the same spirit. Often in those, and it has been tried a lot, the puppy-huggers take over, it loses its spirit.

If you can get the principal in a small town behind it, and maybe a little city help, they can make this work like no one else. After having talked with principals at schools in larger districts, it seems that some have some fairly good autonomy, and could use that space if they want to do it. Not everywhere, I suspect, but you just need one to start.

The goal is to encourage them into self-sufficiency, perhaps putting these on themselves, maybe with you acting as a place they can borrow $50,000 or a $100,000 worth of equipment every once in a while. And that's where grant writing comes in, along with creating a non-profit and learning to find people that will fund your mission.

I am always amazed by the kind of work you are doing with the cats. I have helped with a few of those, and good people invest a large amount of work, money, blood - themselves, really - into those. The best way I have seen to reliably control a colony of cats.