Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning would like to congratulate our second donation recipient, Shadow Cats Rescue of Round Rock.
As a recipient of our monthly Radiant Helping Hands Charity outreach program, they will be able to provide more care and continue with the expansion plans that they already have underway. They are a local Austin non-profit that was created out of love for the cats that were seen all around town that until now were “left in the shadows.” Shadow Cats founder and president, Sheila Smith explained that she wanted to give a second chance to the cats that other people wouldn’t even give a second glance. We are so happy to be able to support this group and all that they do. We are very happy that the program is up and running and would like to thank everyone who has been nominating and supporting both our business and our efforts.
Shadow Cats is a wonderful charity that has strived to improve the lives of our central Texas feline friends since the late 1990s when Sheila Smith began her mission to implement trap, neuter and return (TNR) practices in local feral cat colonies. Shadow Cats urges local governments to develop and implement TNR ordinances and humane practices that keep these colonies both healthy and manageable. They have found success across the region and these practices as now law in Round Rock, Taylor, and Leander. Over the past decade many thousands of cats have been spayed and neutered through TNR and as a result there has been a steady decline in the number of stray cats who wind up in municipal shelters. Shadow Cats also provides information and resource referrals to the community to help deal humanely with stray and feral cats.
Through Shadow Cats’ work with feral cat colonies, the need arose for a resource for cats that had injuries, illnesses, or behavioral problems that made them difficult to place in adoptive homes after being rescued. Sheila Smith and her husband Dr. Roy Smith, a veterinarian, began to add on to their home and created a sanctuary to provide lifetime care for cats with no other options. The sanctuary has expanded over the years to its present size, housing about 85 cats. A growing emphasis at the sanctuary has been caring for cats with feline leukemia, a serious communicable virus that often results in their euthanasia in most shelters. But Shadow Cats feels strongly that every cat deserves a chance at a wonderful life, for however long that may be, and works hard to provide that to each cat that comes through their doors.
Shadow Cats depends entirely on donations and a small group of dedicated volunteers to care for these cats. The sanctuary offers a unique setting where the cats have large areas with cat trees, perches, and also access to safe outdoor enclosures where they can enjoy the sights and sounds of a creek and wooded area behind the sanctuary. You can find out more about Shadow Cats and the work they do on their website at www.shadowcats.net, where you’ll also find a Kitty Cam that allows you to watch the cats in several rooms. Radiant’s $1,000 donation will go toward the costs of daily care for the sanctuary cats – food, supplies, and veterinary care, which is a major expense because of the age and chronic health problems of many of the sanctuary residents.
As Shadow Cats looks to the future, their dream is to acquire or build a permanent sanctuary facility that can continue to provide a safe and loving environment in perpetuity for otherwise overlooked cats in our community and they are working steadily toward that goal. To nominate a charity that you care about, just click this link and fill out the form. https://info.radiantplumbing.com/charity/