Fancy Cats Rescue Team | 2014 Annual Report

Our Mission

Fancy Cats Rescue Teams mission is to end senseless euthanasia of healthy cats and kittens at area shelters. We rescue and find suitable lifetime homes wfor our cats and kittens, promote spay/neuter and educate the publicon responsible pet ownership.

Since our inception, we have found homes for approximately 18,000 cats in the National Capital area. Fancy Cats provides a safety net for cats that have been abandoned.The majority of cats we rescue come from death row at local shelters. We acceptcats directly from ow-ers (with up-to-date medical work: sterilization, FeLV/FIV test, rabies and distemper shots) and strays as space permits.

We assist other rescue groups and government personnel in emergency situations.

Organizer. Cleaner. Reviewer. Contract negotiator. File clerk. Recruiter. These are

all terms that you might use to describe Gail

Sutton who has been an adoption coordina-tor at Fair Lakes since early 2014. Gail can

often be found working one of the adoption

fairs each weekend and it's rare to see her sit

idle, not keeping busy doing something - not

only talking with potential adopters, review-ing applications and processing contracts,

but also helping to keep the files, work area,

and the cat center clean and organized.

Gail started as a volunteer with Fancy

Cats in June 2013 as a foster home and

a biweekly cleaning staff member. After

attending a number of adoption fairs with

her fosters, she was recruited to become

a coordinator, which she really enjoys.

Being a coordinator is a big commitment

because you are often the first to arrive at

an adoption fair to get set up and the last to

leave at the end of the event after clean up

Become an adoption fair coordinator!

Gail tells interested adopters about our kitten policy during an adoption fair.

is done. Other volunteers who are help-ing with the fair provide great support, but

ultimately the decision regarding who gets

to adopt and who doesn't comes down to

the coordinator's thorough review of the

application information and the interview

with the potential adopters. There is lots to

explain to potential adopters about the best

ways to acclimate a new pet to the home

so it's important for the coordinator to be

well versed in Fancy Cat's policies, practices

and advice for new owners. At times there

might be multiple applications or contracts

in process concurrently so organization and

good customer service skills are a must for

success in the coordinator position.

The original foster cat that Gail started

hosting in June 2013 is still with her, resid-ing in her craft room (she doesn't get along

with Gail's two resident cats). Angel has

had a few prospects come to meet her but

has yet to find her forever home (she does

not do well at adoption fairs so

relies on the web site for someone

to notice her). She is a very nice

cat as long as she is the only cat in

the house - someday soon the right

person will come along to take her

home. In addition to the fosters

she currently has - Angel, Cobe,

Frankie and CoCo - 30 other foster

cats have come and gone through

Gail's home since her volunteer

work began with Fancy Cats.

Fancy Cats Rescue Team | 2014 Annual Report

I have loved animals all my life and in April I will celebrate 20 years in animal rescue. Ive had many jobs from retail management to early childhood education and daycare. Ive always loved working with animals and my family has always had them. In my home we have cats, dogs and 3 bunnies. They are part of the family and we could never imagine our lives without them.

It makes me very sad to see so many animals lose their homes when children come into the picture. I know firsthand that kids and animals are a great combination. Kids that grow up around animals learn compassion and how to be caregivers. Through my years of doing daycare I worked with like-minded families and saw the special relation-ships that develop.

Last year once again brought us many returned cats. Most of them were adopted to young couples as kittens years ago. The biggest cause of this unfortunate situation is kittens not being socialized with kids, people and other animals. Its not fair to cats that were raised as someones children to lose their home once human children come along. We plan to look for a solution to this problem and will take a harder look at ap-plicants in the meantime.

Rescues face many hardships finding homes for these returned senior cats. They take much longer to place in homes, take longer to adjust to temporary homes, and most are very upset to just be around the other rescue cats, making them less attractive. Of 124 returns last year, 70% of them were adopted out by us as kittens and 40% of them were past seven years old. Though seven isnt old to us (cats live 15-20 years) we have low-ered our adoption fees to $60 for cats for cats over seven years old. Though we struggle to find homes for these cats, I can attest to the fact that cats over seven years are the best catsthey are usually low maintenance and very affectionate.

Our highlightsWe adopted out 939 cats and transferred 8 to other Virginia rescues. Though adop-tions were down 10% from 2013, adult adoptions increased more than 8%. We are successfully branching out to other venues and adopting out adult cats quicker by having more places to show them. These facilities are supported by dedicated and hardworking volunteers who are will-ing to take on more responsibility.

Fancy Cats has made history on behalf of the rights of citizens to speak on behalf of cats. After Fancy Cats was banned from rescuing cats in Baltimore County, which operates a high kill - high illness shelter, our First Amendment retaliation case was filed by a Rockville civil rights lawyer and financial contributor to our cause, How-ard B. Hoffman, Esq. The case survived a motion to dismiss, with a written decision garnering publicity around the Country. We look forward to advancing the matter and achieving justice in this case.

Last year, we hired a dedicated person to manage website inquiries and applica-tions. As a result, more are being adopted out of the foster homes without having to come to adoption fairs. Our website helped place 65% of our cats last year.

L E T T E R F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T

Dear friends and supporters of Fancy Cats Rescue Team:

FANCY CATS RESCUE TEAM | ANNUAL REPORT | 2

Annual Report 2014Fancy Cats Rescue TeamP.O. Box 182Herndon, VA 20172-0182info@fancycats.org

The Annual Report is issued byFancy Cats Rescue Team toreflect news highlights and prioryears income and expenses.

Fancy Cats Rescue Team is a501(c)(3) non-profit organizationfounded in August 1997 byCatherine McCullough Awad,incorporated in February 1999in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Annual Report has beengenerously sponsored byWe Stage Virginia.

Fancy Cats Rescue TeamBoard of Directors, 2014

Cathy AwadPresident

Bonnie PaulVice President, Secretary

Jennifer JohnsonTreasurer

Anita AustinsonMember at Large

Cori Lovas Member at Large

Kathy UhrichMember at Large

Raymond PaulMember at Large

Our beloved Bonnie Paul has now taken over volunteer coordination that has been neglected previous years. We now have a volunteer working solely on fundrais-ing and have invested in a widely-used fundraising database to help our efforts become more successful.

We are undergoing branding changes including a revamped website with mul-tiple sponsorship opportunities, foster cat galleries and an industry-leading blog. Our new path also includes increased social media efforts with a new Pinterest profile (follow us!) and a primary focus on finding our adoptable cats forever homes.

In 20 years of rescue and working with many different rescues I can say that I am extremely proud of Fancy Cats volun-teers. Their hard work, dedication and the immense love they have to give our cats inspire me every day. I could not be more happy with the group of people I call my team. They are the best. They are lifesavers!

Sincerely,

Catherine M AwadPresident, Fancy Cats Rescue Team

Cost-of-living increases affect everyoneincluding animal rescue groups. The price of cat food, supplies and medication continues to

rise steadily. Veterinarian expenses also rose approximately 70%. Fancy Cats utilizes what we call medical quarantine foster homes.

We lost one of our most active medical fosters last year, Christine Mackey, when she moved out of state. Sadly, some great foster

homes cannot take in cats because they have permanent foster cats that need ongoing medical care. We made room for only 1% more

cats than last year; however, our total outcome was 1018 cats, a decrease of 2%. This may be because we support a number of special

needs cats that require ongoing monthly medicine.

Our veterinarians provide us with an invaluable service. Without their knowledge and willingness to go the extra mile, we would not be

able to assist our many special needs cats. Fancy Cats is known as a leader in the rescue community because we are not afraid to accept

cats with special age, behavioral or health challenges. Unfortunately, one of the issues we face taking in unwanted cats is that we rely on

the shelters to provide the cats health information, which is frequently inaccurate.

Adoption income

Our adoption promotions continue to bring

success. Each month, we reduce adoption

fees for various hard-to-adopt cats, such as

seniors, black cats and bonded pairs. Our

black cat promotion was the most success

so far, totaling 118 adoptions. Our senior

cat promotion also garnered much success

as 27 seniors went to forever homes in

December. We will continue these promo-tions as they were very successful in finding

forever homes for many of our special cats.

Returned cats continued to increase last

year. Many cats were returned because of

housing issues, job loss or the arrival of a

new child or spouse. We have seen a large

number of returns that were kittens when

adopted and returned as senior cats because

of children being born and the cats not being

able to adjust. This is very heartbreaking for

the cats and everyone involved. We repeat-edly tell adopters that kittens need to be

exposed to different situations including kids

and other animals.

Grant incomeThis figure decreased by 41% but we are

putting together a team of writers to work

on this very important task.

Outreach Campaign Contributions Funds totaled $19,600, a slight drop

over 2013's $22,900. Combined Federal

Campaign comprised 30% of this income.

Fundraiser goals typically focus on medi-cal issues as they arise. Our Ron Burns art

raffle last year was a huge success bringing

in another much needed $4,000. We would

love to repeat this raffle this again this year.

Adoption fees rarely cover the cost to prep

typical cats for adoption, so the support of

the public is vital to the cats.

Special eventsWe had our first ever gala event thanks to

our own Danielle Areco. It was a fun night

of music, dancing, exhibits and raffles. This

event featured Gwen Cooper, author of

"Homers Odyssey" and included speakers

Dr. Karen Diviney, former Director of Fairfax

County Animal Shelter as well as current Di-rector Tawny Hammond. Some of our much

loved doctors also attended, including Dr.

Andrew Voell of Pender Veterinary Clinic

and Dr. Scott Kastner of Sunshine Animal

Hospital. We had many wonderful sponsors

such as We Stage Va., Chico's Pet Depot,

Kool Kitty Toys and National Events LLC.

Marianne Cherry and husband from Sydney

& MAC Creative Designs were on hand to

capture the event with photos. We are

grateful for all our supporters and friends

for making this a very special evening that

brought our cats over $15,000.

We were at the National Capital Area

Cat Show last year but are undecided if we

will participate in the future. Teri Guerette

organizes this two-day event for Fancy

cats. McLean Day event, also hosted by

Teri, brought about $900 through dona-tions for Anne Lawrence's face painting

(Happy Faces). Everyone loved Anne's

beautiful art.

Financial Summary: Income

Comparison of Financial Reports

Income 2014 2013

Adoption fees 71267 75208

Campaign income 67745 61463

Grants 1131 1930

Cont unrestricted 108803 8132

Spec event/fund. 19650 22932

Total Income: 268497 245106

FANCY CATS RESCUE TEAM | ANNUAL REPORT | 3

O P E R A T I O N S & F I N A N C I A L R E P O R T

Campaign Income 65.75%

Grants 0.42%

Adoption Fee 26.54%

Fundraisers 6.56%

Special Events 0.72%

Total $268,496.81

Income 2014 2013

Adoption fees 71267 75208

Campaign income 67745 61463

Grants 1131 1930

Cont unrestricted 108803 8132

Spec event/fund. 19650 22932

Total Income: 268497 245106

Veterinary expensesFCRTs biggest expense has been spay/

neuter surgeries. 50% of cats we re-ceived in 2013 were unfixed strays from

shelters and from outside. We spent ap-proximately $55,000 to spay/neuter 493

animals last year.

Every cat is given shots, is tested for

feline leukemia (FeLV) and feline immu-nodeficiency virus (FIV) and dewormed.

Our small quarantine area hosted about

half of these incoming cats - a total of just

under 700. We had to put off our planned

renovations due to the increase in our vet

bills, but we hope for a mini renovation

in Spring. We can only do a little at a time

because something always comes up. Look

for a sponsorship link on our website to

support this activity.

Medical Supplies Our supplies expense decreased 32.7 %

as we had to use vets offices to hospitalize

sick cats. We are greatly in need of more

fosters willing to administer medications

and support to sick cats and kittens.

Payroll A second part-time position to help with

administrative duties (primarily adoption

inquiries and meetings) was added to the

existing part-time position and permanent

salaried staffer who takes care of over 50

cats in our quarantine area. Our group re-mains predominantly volunteer and we get

more done than the majority of the shelters

that have that have an entire paid staff. Our

payroll costs were down 1.2 % over 2013.

SuppliesCat food and litter expenses were down

9% from 2013 as we have been getting

steady donations from Petsmart and Pet-valu. (Thank you!) We do not receive any

discounts on food or litter and pay what

consumers pay. In-store adoption cen-ters food and litter is usually supplied by

the store. At Chico's Pet Depot, Danielle

Financial Summary: Expenditures

FANCY CATS RESCUE TEAM | ANNUAL REPORT | 4

is working to have the grain free food

supplied by Natural Balance. Our regular

supply costs, which includes things like

beds, paper towels, trash bags, food trays

and gloves, has decreased 25% thanks to donations from the public. Last year, Norm

Murray donated four new nebulizers and

warming discs for cats that are ill.

Microchips and Registration

This expense remained the same with only

a 1% increase. We are looking for a corpo-rate sponsor to pay for this program for us.

Operational expenses

This is a small amount and includes everything

additional like grooming, postage, laundry.

This cost increased about 1.4 % over 2013.

Utilities

Costs decreased 1.9 % as we changed

some of our services. We also had a spon-sor for our web hosting costs.

Insurance Our insurance costs reflect the addition of

new adoption centers and has risen 1.9%.

Program Count Snapshot

Intake 1,025Returns 124Clinic In 3Owner surrender 59Service In 2Strays 85Transfer In 752 Outcome 1,018Adopted 927Transfer Out 13Return 10Died 63Service Out 43Clinic Out 1

O P E R A T I O N S & F I N A N C I A L R E P O R T

Veterinarian 46.29%Supplies 3.07%Insurance 1.11%Payroll 22.65%Cat food/Supplies 7.71%Medicine & Supplies 5.93%

Utilities 2.72%Microchips 1.67%Proffesional Fees 1.50%Operations 1.46%Insurance 1.11%Other 5.89%Total $270,576.45

Bank Charges & Finance FeesThese fees are bank services, vet billing

charges and credit finance fees. This cost is

up 1.2% over 2013.

Introducing three of our most adoptable cats

C A T S I N T H E FANCY CATS P R O G R A M

Gracie was originally adopted from

Fancy Cats in 2010 as a kitten. She was

left behind when her owners moved away

three years later. She came back to us very

scared of everything around her. Gracie was

the sad result of under socializing a kitten

with other animals and even people. After

time, she now enjoys being petted and will

meow to get your attention. She also loves

being brushed. We think she looks like a big

koala bear. We call her pretty girl and she

answers with her little meow. She needs an

experienced cat person who will give her

the time she needs to be comfortable in a

new home. She promises to be a very affec-tionate companion once she trusts you.

Beautiful Merrilee was surrendered to

a shelter when her human parents split

up. Unfortunately, she was adopted from

a store in Maryland as a kitten and never

exposed to other cats. Going to a shelter

with other cats is often a fatal situation for

unsocialized cats like Merrilee. Thankfully,

someone there asked that she go to a res-cue instead of being euthanizedand she

came to us. She was very overweight, testy

and generally hated everyone. It has been

a very long road, but she has come to like

people. Merrilee these days has a new

svelte figure. She adores being brushed

and loves head rubs. She is a very good

girl with perfect kitty manners. If you are

looking for a one and only princess, please

consider Merrilee.

Cappy came to Fancy Cats from a shel-ter. He had been living outside most of his

life and showed us how happy he was to

finally have a place indoors. He has since

gained some weight and is feeling good.

Hes a quiet guy who likes warm, cozy

places to sleep. His favorite thing is rolling

around in catnip! He likes children and will

follow you around to get you to pet him.

Although other cats dont bother him,

adoption fairs do. Thats why its taken him

so long to find a loving home. Cappy would

be perfect for a busy family that needs a

low maintenance kitty.

FANCY CATS RESCUE TEAM | ANNUAL REPORT | 5

Fostering kittens is one of the most re-warding things I have done in my 57 years

on this earth. Some come in healthy with

their Mom and just need a safe place to

hang out until they are adopted, but oth-ers come in sick and scared and all alone,

or without their mom and too young to

be weaned.To see them all blossom into

beautiful healthy, playful, affectionate

kittens and go off to their forever home

with families who will love and cherish

by Deb UngerA Rewarding Experience

them is more than worth all the work and

dedication fostering these kittens require.

Yes, it is hard to see them go, especially

the ones who have formed strong bonds

with you! But all of my foster families

have been wonderful about sending me

periodic updates and photos and invit-ing me to visit the kittens any time. My

husband and I can't wait for kitten season

to start again. Deb Unger snuggling with some of her adorable foster kittens

FANCY CATS RESCUE TEAM | ANNUAL REPORT | 6

F ANCY CATS M E D I C A L R E C O V E R I E S

Back in November, FCRT and first time foster mom, Courtney made a plea for medical care

for a kitten named Dixie, who came to us from a Virginia shelter. Dixie, who had been expe-riencing convulsions since her arrival, was being treated with anti-convulsants but contin-ued having multiple grand mal seizures each week. Thanks to your overwhelming support,

FCRT was able to raise the money for Dixie to see a specialist. Its been three months since

Dixie began her new treatment plan and she has remained seizure free since. Her foster

mom says that she is doing better each day. In addition to being much calmer and less anx-ious (which her foster mom attributes to the natural remedies) Dixie is also far steadier and

more confident. The vets now hope her required dosage of the anti-convulsant medication

will level out, especially with the help of alternative remedies, and she will be able to live a

long, seizure-free life.

Marmalade is one of the numerous cats that are put outside

when their owners die and ultimately end up at a kill shelter.

Fancy Cats learned about her on her last day and stepped in.

Besides being a little old lady, Marmalade also had a very bad

mouth and needed dental work. She was very skinny due to the

shelter feeding only hard and she needed wet and had a lesion

by her ear that needed to be removed and biopsied. Although

she was uncomfortable she was a very sweet cat and everyone

who met her fell in love with her. After all her surgeries were

done she was adopted by the mom of one of our volunteers.

She is a very loved kitty.

Hugo came from a Maryland Shelter with a break in his front leg

that was challenging to fix. Although the vet advised amputation

would be easier but we had his surgery done anyway. Today he is

very happy, healthy and extremely handsome. He was a big cud-dly cat from day one always looking for attention. He likes cats,

dogs and kids and is a wonderful family cat.

Trixie came from a Maryland shelter with her four kittens, who like most of the kittens we take in, were suffering with bacterial

and viral infections. Trixie was so run down from feeding her ba-bies that she had to be hospitalized. Meanwhile the foster home

was doing the same with all four kittens. Through lots of hard

work and TLC, mom and all four kittens survived and were ad-opted into loving home. The total for this rescue came to $4000.

These fancy cats have big hearts and big bills

F ANCY CATS S P O N S O R S

Thank youMike McCou l lough & Lori Hardee

for your support!

FANCY CATS RESCUE TEAM | ANNUAL REPORT | 7

PO box 182, Herndon, VA 20172

Fancy Cats 2015 Raffle!

You could win thousands in the

50\50 Fancy Cats 2015 Raffle!

Help support FCRTs mission, provide for the care of our many adoptable cats, AND get the chance to win thousands!

Tickets are only $10 each and the winner will be chosen at our fundraising night at Port City Brewing Company (Alexandra, VA) on June 3. You do not have to be pres-

ent to win. Fill out, tear off and mail in the entry form on page 7 to enter.

For more information, see our website or email fancycatsraffle@gmail.com.