The Alliance in Limiting Strays

A dedicated group of local animal lovers is celebrating a feat worthy of a lot of tail wagging. The Alliance In Limiting Strays (TAILS), an all-volunteer spay/neuter specific organization, marked their 20th year of spaying and neutering local dogs and cats earlier this month.

"It's amazing what was borne from 9 people who dreamed of making a difference," Dorrie Harris, President of TAILS stated. "And what a difference we've made. Given breeding statistics for two unspayed/unneutered dogs or cats, we have literally saved millions of animals through our spay/neuter and Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs," she stated. "We do roughly 550 spay/neuters every year thanks to our volunteers, donors and local veterinarians who support and share our mission. We also adopt about 170 cats into loving homes each year who we save directly from the streets. But there are still so many out there to help."

The group helps both dogs and cats but truly focuses on where they see the most need: feral cats. "A pair of feral, or community, cats can easily turn into 40 cats in two years - so that's where the need is greatest in our area," Harris stated. "These cats have few advocates so we've become their champion and trap as many cats as possible to get spay/neutered/vaccinated and returned to their feeder [cat colony caretaker]," she continued.

TAILS was formed in April 2001 and received their IRS, tax-exempt certification on November 7, 2001. The organization is a stand-alone, 501c3 organization which consists of a dedicated group of volunteers of all ages in the area with no paid staff. In early 2001, the founding members broke off from the animal shelter environment to emphasize the importance of, and need for, spaying and neutering, a critical procedure all too often lost when budget decisions are made and existing animals are at the doorstep.

"Nobody wants dogs and cats to die because there aren't enough adopters, lack kennel space or unsuccessfully trying to live on the streets....but that's the reality of where we are right now, unfortunately. To stop this we need to get every animal we can spayed or neutered," Harris stated. "If you imagine the shelter system as a sink of overflowing animals - how would you stop that sink from overflowing? You'd turn off the faucet, right? The supply, in other words. Spaying and neutering is the equivalent of shutting that faucet off. It's really that simple. And there are a host of health benefits to each animal when they're spay/neutered too," she added. Harris also stated the organization is a no-kill and only puts animals down when medically necessary as deemed by a veterinarian.

TAILS is based in Westport and serves as the Town's de facto cat group which represents and protects local cats from homelessness whenever possible as local Animal Control does not currently have the ability to take-in or place cats. Additionally, the organization supports 9 surrounding towns, has a robust TNR and Barn Cat program, has adoptable cats in two local Petco stores (Norwalk & Westport) and a dedicated group of more than 55 volunteers. Harris commented that volunteers, participating veterinarians/vet techs, foster homes and donors are always being sought to continue their work. More information or to support TAILS please visit http://www.tailsct.org, www.facebook.com/TAILSSpayNeuter, Instagram under tails_spay_neuter or via email at info@tailsct.org or phone at 203.222.1992.