If you’ve been to FixNation lately, you’ve seen the beautiful, new night sky mural in our lobby… our “Starlight Wonder Wall.” Now you can purchase a star to shine in our sky for that beloved pet or special someone as a token of your forever love.

Stars In Memory Of:

In memory of a beloved pet or a passed loved one, what better way to honor their memory than to purchase a star where the proceeds will go to ease the suffering and improve the lives of homeless cats. You would be honoring your loved one’s memory with a gift of kindness.

Stars In Celebration Of:

Many people today are leading simpler, greener lives that have less impact on Mother Earth. Instead of gifts and material goods, consider purchasing a star in their name that goes towards making this world a better place. Perfect for the cat lovers in your life, as holiday gifts, to celebrate a wedding or special occasion…or just as a celebration of life!

Price       Star                Message Length

$50            3″ Silver           25 characters

$75            4″ Silver           35 characters

$100          5″ Silver          45 characters

$150          5″ Gold            45 characters

$200          6″ Gold             60 characters

If This Is a Gift:

FixNation can send a card on your behalf to your special someone, along with information so they can call us with the message they would like written on their star. If you would like to purchase a gift for someone, please provide their name and contact info so we can follow up with them.

Click here to download the order form and order your star today!

You can fax your order in to 818.767.7791 or email to info@fixnation.org.

Here are a few pictures of how the mural looks at our clinic. As you can see, the wall is starting to fill up! The lovely mural was complements of artists Amanda Flick and Michael D. Costello.

Thank you for your donation!

Ericka has been working in news for over ten years. Born in Peru, Ericka moved to the United States at a young age. She graduated from Rider University with a communications degree. She then set off working for big industry names like Univision, Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” and WSVN in Miami and Telemundo 47 in New York. Today,  Ericka is the evening weather anchor for Telemundo 52 in LA, one of the largest Spanish television networks in the world. In 2009 Ericka earned her meteorology degree and earned the prestigious American Meteorology Society seal of approval. Her personality, versatility and knowledge have gained her respect and a huge following. Ericka’s Photo galleries and Internet segments such as “Ericka Te lo Cuenta” are amongst the most trafficked in the Telemundo website.

Ericka joined forces with FixNation because of her love of cats and strong desire to help the community at large. Sharing a common vision of “No More Homeless Cats in LA”, Ericka is using her vivacious personality and tapping in to her wide fan base to help drive home the importance of spay/neuter and to explain what Trap-Neuter-Return is all about.

“Many people in the Spanish-speaking community have a great love of animals and want to help the cats within their community, but simply don’t know about TNR or what resources are available to help them locally” says Ericka. “By letting people know about FixNation and the free spay/neuter services they offer, I can help show people how easy it is to make a positive difference in the world around them.”

Ericka visited FixNation with her camera crew and showcased the coverage and story on her heavily trafficked Telemundo website. She also invited FixNation’s Spanish-speaking team members to join her on air, with tame kitten in tow, to talk to her audience about free-roaming cats and the benefits of TNR.

“We couldn’t be more pleased that Ericka is helping us reach the Spanish-speaking community,” says Kim Senn, VP of Operations at FixNation. “Ericka is an extremely popular, influential woman with fans who follow her everywhere she goes. We are thrilled to have her help in reaching out to the Hispanic community on the importance of Trap-Neuter-Return for our community cats.”

More exciting plans are in store in throughout 2010 for Ericka and FixNation to team up on educational outreach projects for the Spanish-speaking community. Together, through education and increased awareness, they plan to turn the tide on the plight of homeless cats and to reduce the pet overpopulation in Los Angeles, helping both people and animals alike lead better lives.

To get to know Ericka Pino, go to:

http://www.Telemundo52.com/erickapino

To view her gallery of FixNation, go to:

http://www.telemundo52.com/noticias/5868721/detail.html

To view the on-air coverage with FixNation team members, view the 3-part series:

1) http://www.telemundo52.com/video/19049779/index.html

FixNation is a non-profit organization providing free spay/neuter services for homeless, stray and feral cats, as well as reduced rate spay/neuter services for tame cats. Our goal is to humanely reduce the number of homeless cats throughout Los Angeles by sterilizing as many as possible. We focus on providing these free spay/neuter services for “managed colonies”, which means food, water and shelter is provided to these cats on a daily basis.

Homeless, Stray & Feral Cats

FixNation offers free spay/neuter services for homeless, stray and feral cats. Under our free feral program, all homeless cats who will be eartipped for identification purposes will receive the following free services at the time they are here for surgery:

• Spay/neuter surgery
• Physical exam
• Rabies vaccine
• FVRCP vaccine (feline distemper combo vaccine)
• Revolution (for fleas, earmites, mange, hookworms, roundworms and a heartworm protection all for 30 days)
• Pain medication
• Fluids
• Antibiotic
• Droncit injection (for tapeworms), as needed
• Limited medical treatment
• Ear-tip
• Lots of TLC!

The eartip is the universal symbol that an outdoor or free-roaming cat has been fixed. It is done while the cat is under anesthesia, is relatively painless for the cat and does not significantly alter their beauty. We also apply a bit of pain medication paste to the eartip to make it even more comfortable for the cat.

Eartip example

Since we have only one opportunity with the feral cats, we choose to provide all that we can while they’re here for surgery.

We can do small eartips for any stray cats or kittens who you may be trying to adopt out.

Tame Companion Cats

FixNation offers, on a limited basis, reduced rate spay/neuter services for tame, companion cats who are not being eartipped. The cost of a female/spay is $55 and a male/neuter is $40 (rates effective as of 1/1/10). Vaccines are $8 each and Revolution is $15.

We do accept L.A. city coupons towards the cost of the spay or neuter.

Additional Services

We also offer the following services for an additional charge while cats are here for spay/neuter surgery:

• Microchipping – $25
• Feline Leukemia/FIV combo testing – $20 for ferals, $25 for tames
• Nail trims (tame cats only) – $5

Please be aware that our vaccine, testing and microchipping services are only provided at the time the cat is here for spay/neuter service. Since our main mission is to humanely reduce the number of homeless, stray and feral cats in Los Angeles, this is where we concentrate our time and attention.

You do not need to live in the city of Los Angeles in order to bring cats to our clinic. We service cats from any area, provided the cats can be safely transported to and from our clinic.

]]> http://fixnation.org/2010/03/fixnations-services/feed/ 0 http://fixnation.org/2010/02/an-exclusive-video-about-fixnation-courtesy-of-found-animals-foundation/ http://fixnation.org/2010/02/an-exclusive-video-about-fixnation-courtesy-of-found-animals-foundation/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:06:37 +0000 admin http://fixnation.org/?p=1197 Introducing a premiere video about FixNation clinic, courtesy of our friends at Found Animals Foundation. See our state-of-the-art clinic, meet our kitty clients and learn about our mission to spay and neuter the homeless cats all across Los Angeles.

Click here to view the embedded video.

About Found Animals Foundation, Inc.:

Found Animals is a privately funded non-profit dedicated to minimizing shelter euthanasia. They create programs designed to reduce shelter intake, increase adoption rates and focuses on developing sustainable animal welfare business models. For more information, visit their website or add them as a fan on Facebook today.

Since Cats first opened on the West End stage in 1981, it has become one of the world’s best known and best loved musicals. With a plot based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and award-winning music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber; CATS, originally directed by Trevor Nunn, has since been presented in over 20 countries and in about 250 cities. The production ran for 18 years on Broadway, a record-setting 21 years in London, won seven Tony Awards and is the longest running tour in American theatre history.

CATS has come back to Los Angeles! The production is visiting the Pantages Theatre for two weeks in March. Graciously, the Pantages Theatre and the production of CATS offered to partner with FixNation for a special, one-time fundraising and “friendraising” event on Wednesday, March 10th. FixNation was granted a block of well-situated tickets to CATS to sell, with the proceeds going to help the non-profit clinic.

The evening started with a VIP cocktail reception held at the elegant Katsuya restaurant in Hollywood, with food, wine and drinks. The hit of the party was a visit from some of the costumed cast members from CATS, and guest attendees could get their photo taken with the Cats on the red carpet. An exclusive video on FixNation clinic was also premiered, giving guests a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of the clinic and how the mission got started.

The highlight of the evening was the award-winning Broadway production of CATS at the Pantages Theatre. Our celebrity guest, Corey Feldman, took the stage before the start of the performance to say a few words about the plight of homeless cats, how TNR can make such a huge difference in their lives, and about FixNation’s free spay/neuter services for homeless, stray and feral cats. Corey and his son Zen stayed to watch the performance, as well as take a few photos with the cast members from CATS. We appreciate his coming out to help our charitable event, and his passion and commitment to bettering the lives of animals.

We would like to thank our three very generous sponsors who made this magical evening possible: The Angela Collier Foundation, The Rascal & Chloe Fund, and Found Animals Foundation.

Thanks also goes out to a very special donor and friend, the Dax Foundation, who purchased some CATS tickets that we awarded to some “unsung heroes” who are out in the field night after night trapping, caring for colonies, and making an overall difference in the lives of homeless cats. This special gift allowed people who might not otherwise be attending a chance to take an evening off from their hard work and join us in some fun.

We extend our grateful and sincere thanks to everyone who came out to support this event, and in the words of the beautiful Grizabella, we cherish the special Memories that we made!

]]> http://fixnation.org/2010/02/fixnation-partners-with-the-broadway-musical-cats-for-a-special-night-2/feed/ 0 http://fixnation.org/2010/01/celebrate-spay-neuter-month-with-found-animals-and-facebook/ http://fixnation.org/2010/01/celebrate-spay-neuter-month-with-found-animals-and-facebook/#comments Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:54:05 +0000 admin http://fixnation.org/?p=1118 Did you know February is National Spay/Neuter Month? To help us celebrate, Found Animals has decided to donate up to $10,000 to FixNation… but exactly how much depends on you!

Throughout the month of February, Found Animals will be donating $1 to FixNation for every new Facebook fan who signs up with them… up to $10,000 total. They will be granting these “celebration donations” to three lucky spay/neuter organizations:  FixNation, Clinico and AngelDogs Foundation.

All YOU have to do to help us earn this money is click here to invite your friends, family and neighbors to become a fan of Found Animals on Facebook. As their fan base grows, Found Animals donates more money to us for free spay/neuter and YOU help save more lives… it’s that simple!

TNR is a community-based, humane approach to controlling homeless cat overpopulation. It involves concerned citizens humanely trapping feral cats, getting them spayed and neutered (at clinics like FixNation), and then returning them to their natural environment so they can live out their lives. It is the humane alternative to trapping and killing cats at our city shelters, which is inhumane, consistently does not work, not to mention very costly to taxpayers like us.

While the city isn’t stopping private citizens from doing their own TNR, this ruling will suspend the city shelters from distributing our clinic flyers to educate people about TNR or allowing shelter employees to encourage TNR as an alternative to people as they are there dropping off cats at the shelter. It also ceases any city coupon funding that our clinic can use towards homeless cats, which is critical in helping us cover the cost of spay/neuter services to make them free for you.

Without TNR and spay/neuter, the homeless cat populations in this city will explode exponentially, which means many more cats will end up being killed at our city shelters. TNR has been the “unofficial” policy for years, until just last week when this judge forced the city to suspend it. Already our city shelter euthanasia rates are through the roof due to a bad economy and home foreclosures. This will seriously exacerbate the situation.

Want to take action? Here’s what you can do to help:

1) Please take a moment to sign the petition to show your support for TNR, and please share this with your friends and neighbors so they are aware.

Sign the Petition

2) We want to hear your great stories about how TNR has helped you and your neighborhood! If you have TNR’d homeless cats and have personally witnessed the positive difference this has made in your community, please take time to send us your story.

info@fixnation.org

3) Finally, if you do live in Los Angeles, contact your city council members and city representatives. Make sure they clearly know that you do not support this ruling, you do not support the killing of more homeless cats and that you DO support TNR. Even if you don’t live in California, please voice your opinion and support us. Post to Facebook, post to Twitter, please help us to get the word out.

Directory of City Council Members

If we all speak up, this ruling can be overturned and overcome. It’s not too late, and your voice counts!

With sincere thanks,

FixNation

————————–

From our Founder and President, Mark Dodge S. Dodge, Esq.

Wild bird groups sued the City of Los Angeles in 2008 to stop its support of Trap-Neuter-Return, the humane, community based method to control feral cat overpopulation. They claimed that under the California Environmental Quality Act, the City of LA could not provide discount spay neuter coupons to feral cat caregivers or promote TNR without an Environmental Study and Impact Report, based upon the utterly false premise that if TNR is promoted by the City, fewer cats will be killed in shelters, meaning more cats left in the environment to kill birds.

Last week, after a summary trial of this action, Judge Thomas McKnew, of the LA Superior Court, bought into this spurious argument and issued an injunction preventing any City support of TNR.

Whether or not this decision is appealed and the injunction stayed, it is time for humane-minded reasonable citizens of Los Angeles to speak out against this decision and do everything possible to show the Judge and the wild bird groups that we are opposed to anything but wholehearted, enthusiastic government support of TNR in Los Angeles.

The simple fact is that TNR does not produce more cats by “returning” them after surgery, as the wild bird advocates claim, it merely transforms cats already in the environment from being the prolific breeders they are, into sterile community cats, thereby reducing their numbers over time. The consequence is clearly not adverse to the “environment.”

Without TNR, we would see more and more cats killed in shelters, while at the same time the homeless population would simply continue to expand. Moreover, the impact of cats on bird populations is miniscule as compared to habitat loss, high rise windows, airplanes, weather and other predators, contrary to the claims made by many wild bird advocacy groups in their blind opposition to TNR.

This decision, if not overcome via legal or administrative means, will not mean an end to TNR in Los Angeles, but as long as it remains in effect, it will produce a loss of City support and discount spay-neuter coupons for feral cats, outcomes which are unacceptable.

TNR brings the community together in a positive way, promotes humanity to be humane, takes the pressure off of municipal budgets and allows society as a whole to work positively toward a long term solution to the problem of pet overpopulation. It deserves to be supported by City of Los Angeles. Until that support can resume, we ask the citizens of Los Angeles to show their support for TNR.

Visit FixNation at http://www.fixnation.org for more information on how you can make a difference for homeless cats in your own community.

]]> http://fixnation.org/2009/12/judges-ruling-impacts-tnr-in-los-angeles/feed/ 4 http://fixnation.org/2009/11/our-trap-loan-trap-training-programs/ http://fixnation.org/2009/11/our-trap-loan-trap-training-programs/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:04:07 +0000 admin http://blog.fixnation.org/?p=470 FixNation loans out humane traps, carriers and equipment free of charge to the public.

The traps we loan out are humane traps that won’t harm the cats. While the traps may look intimidating, they are actually very safe. Using a humane trap is the safest solution to catch a feral cat – safer for both the cat and for you. It’s also the best way to temporarily house and transport them. Furthermore, it’s safer and easier for our vet techs to anesthetize the cat through a trap, as well as monitor the cat’s recovery post surgery.

Traps and equipment may be borrowed for up to 30 days, provided you are actively trapping and booking reservations with FixNation. All equipment must be returned promptly or upon request.

We do require a credit card and a driver’s license in order to check equipment out, but your card is not charged unless the equipment is not returned promptly. If you don’t have a credit card, we can hold a refundable check or cash deposit instead. A replacement fee of $75.00 per trap is required if a trap is damaged, stolen or lost. There is also a $5 per day late fee if a trap is not returned promptly within the 30 day period.

We are a life-based organization and our mission is to help cats – therefore our traps are not to be used for any purpose other than trapping cats to bring in to FixNation to be spayed or neutered. They are not to be used anywhere else, for any other reason whatsoever.

It’s also imperative that you never leave open, set traps unattended for any length of time. You should always stay within earshot or eyeshot of your traps. A trapped cat is very vulnerable. There are those rare instances when a cat could get hurt going into a trap. Passersby may release a trapped cat, not knowing what your intent is, or worse yet, steal your trap altogether. Cars could accidentally run over a trap in an unattended parking lot. You could inadvertently trap another wild animal (i.e. skunk, possum, raccoon) instead of a cat, which should be quickly re-released. Even when you think it’s safe in someone’s yard, sprinklers could go off around a trapped cat or a stray dog could approach. Please do not put a cat in jeopardy by leaving traps unattended.

Traps need to be returned to FixNation fully cleaned. There is a $25 cleaning fee for any traps that are returned dirty. When returning traps, please ensure all newspaper and bits of food are removed and traps are scrubbed down with soap and water. Please also remove any FixNation masking tape ID letters (not the plastic trap ID tag, but masking tape ID letters) that may have been used at prior clinic reservations. These should be removed from both the trap and the cover, each and every time you bring the trap into the clinic.

]]> http://fixnation.org/2009/11/our-trap-loan-trap-training-programs/feed/ 0 http://fixnation.org/2009/11/our-operational-focus/ http://fixnation.org/2009/11/our-operational-focus/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:47:34 +0000 admin http://fixnation.org/wordpress/?p=752 We are a non-profit organization providing free spay and neuter services for homeless/stray/feral cats, which are then returned to their colony and looked after by their caregiver. We focus on providing free spay/neuter for “managed colonies”, which means a feral colony where food, water and shelter is provided to the cats on a daily basis.

Our current operations focus on:

• Operating a full-time spay-neuter clinic for homeless (and tame) cats, with all services free to caregivers of homeless cats.
• Maintaining a collection of traps which we loan out to caregivers and trappers of feral cats who participate in our programs.
• Educating the public about TNR and offering training sessions on proper trapping techniques and care of feral cat colonies.
• Managing community outreach programs to target specific locations and reduce shelter intake and euthanasia rates for cats as a whole.
• Channeling as many cats as possible into home adoption as a material byproduct of our clinic activities.
• Conducting free, bi-monthly spay-neuter clinics through our sister program, Best Friends Catnippers.

FixNation does not remove, relocate or exterminate homeless cats, nor do we find homes for cats or kittens.

The day-to-day needs of our program are many, as constant attention must be given to clinic management, fundraising, responding to caregiver applications, scheduling spay-neuter appointments, community outreach, and much, much more. With so much to do, it’s easy to get caught up in one’s own world and forget that there is more to our mission than simply our own agenda. In fact, we’re number 2 in the TNR cycle, whereas you, our clients, represent both the T and the R!

This being the case, we take this opportunity to recognize the significant contribution you make to the cause we advocate. Without your individual initiative, borne of little more than a vague desire to “do something,” there would be no need for a service like FixNation. No one forces you to care for free-roaming, homeless cats, yet you are drawn to learning about TNR and humane trapping, spending long and solitary hours often at night in bleak surroundings, trapping and transporting your charges to and from our clinic for spay/neuter surgery, and generally investing major amounts of time and money in feral cat colony management.

We at FixNation thank and commend you for taking this initiative. Without your participation, there would be no way to sterilize so many cats per day. It is our honor to serve you…

Sincerely,

The FixNation Team