Last Hope Animal Rescue Receives Grant from ASPCA

Last Hope Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation, Inc. in Wantagh announced this week that it has received a $5,000 grant from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

The grant will fund Last Hope’s Fix-A-Feral” program, which offers financial assistance to the Long Island public for spay/neuter feral cats. The program is aimed at alleviating the feral cat overpopulation problem. Ten years ago, Last Hope initiated its “Fix-A-Feral” voucher system, which provides assistance to the public with the cost of spay/neuter and vaccines for feral cats by reducing the price at participating veterinary clinics.

“In the past, we have spent significant time planning fundraisers to support Last Hope’s “Fix-A-Feral” initiative,” said Linda Stuurman, president of Last Hope. “We hold a luncheon, a raffle and rely on donations from a generous corporate sponsor to fund our vouchers, but the number of feral cats on Long Island is immense and the requests for help are increasing. We begin issuing program vouchers in March to coincide with kitten season, and usually run out of funds by mid-November. We simply do not have enough money to keep them available all year. It is heartbreaking not to be able to assist every caller pleading for help, as well as every feral or cat colony that surfaces on Last Hope’s radar.”

Stuurman said the ASPCA grant will aid in the distribution of vouchers for the “Fix-A-Feral” program to last for the entire year. At the height of kitten season, which is when shelters are most inundated with mother cats and kittens, the Last Hope cat hotline averages 50 calls a day, officials said.

Last Hope Animal Rescue moved into 3300 Beltagh Ave. two years ago for its dogs and cats. The organization was founded 32 years ago.