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Lisa Comeau: Compassion for Cats Leads to Forming Fix and Feed North Haven

Lisa Comeau has always been an animal lover. She has had dogs and cats throughout her life, including a retired racing greyhound, but over the past few years, her attention has turned to felines.

“Over the past 5 to 10 years, I’ve gone over to the other side to more cats,” says Lisa. “A few years ago, someone had asked me to take care of a cat—usually you don’t relocate feral cats—but this got me started working with a feral cat in my backyard.”

Lisa quickly saw the one cat multiply to five, seeing the problem with unfixed, unvaccinated feral cats. She noted that breeding females can have one to two litters of kittens each year. While breeding, the males also tend to travel or get into territorial fights.

“With cats having four to six kittens at a time, the numbers increase quickly and when the males are traveling, it leads to more danger from traffic and predators,” says Lisa. “I wanted to improve their lives and reduce the number of feral cats out there and hopefully, eventually, the number of unwanted kittens that load up the shelters at this time of year will fall.”

The desire to fix these issues led Lisa to founding Fix and Feed North Haven, which is a “small group of volunteers working to improve the quality of life for feral cats living in and around North Haven using the methods of Trap-Neuter-Return,” according to fixandfeednorthhaven.org.

Lisa formed the group about two years ago and, in 2015, was able to trap and vet 60 feral cats, as well as move four friendly cats and 13 kittens safely to rescues.

“Since I started up Fix and Feed, we’ve been trapping the cats, having them spayed or neutered and vaccinated, and releasing them back out to their homes,” says Lisa. “Feral cats have never really been socialized—they’re not friendly at all—so it’s best that they continue to live outside.”

Lisa and her organization work with several local spay and neuter clinics, including a van that travels, a clinic in Waterbury, and a clinic in Stratford. As a window clerk at a Post Office in Milford, Lisa most often uses the Stratford clinic. The clinics also “ear tip” the left ear so volunteers know which cats have already been treated.

“I head to work, drop them off to be fixed, pick them up on my way home, and drop them back off so they can continue on with what they were doing prior,” says Lisa.

Once the fixed cats are returned to their homes, Fix and Feed continues to help them. The organization provides shelters during the cold-weather months and regularly delivers food.

“These small things tremendously increase their life expectancy and their quality of life,” says Lisa. “They are so appreciative. When you’re going to feed a group and they’re waiting for you, it’s good to see they know they’re loved and taken care of.”

While most feral cats are unlikely to be adopted as they haven’t been socialized, two of Lisa’s five cats were once feral. She also adopted one of her cats from Animal Haven in North Haven, an organization with which she frequently works.

Lisa also works with Halfway Home Rescue and North Haven Animal Control, particularly when groups of kittens are found. Those organizations will help adopt out any friendly feral cats or kittens.

Because Lisa formed Fix and Feed as a 501(c)(3), the organization receives vouchers from the state each fall which helps fund the fixing and vaccinations. In addition, the organization does a variety of fundraisers throughout the year to cover costs of additional veterinary care fees, food, shelter materials, and other supplies. The group holds fundraisers at Stop & Shop, as well as online.

“Social media has been a big source of information and fundraising for us and a lot of rescues,” says Lisa, noting the group is on Facebook. We’re always looking for donations to allow us to help more cats. The spay-neuter is fairly inexpensive, but regular veterinary care for any complications, sickness, or surgeries can get pricey quickly.”

Lisa, a lifelong North Haven resident who enjoys the small community and town services, has also enjoyed expanding her community even farther through her organization. Fix and Feed now has 5 to 10 regular volunteers who help Lisa with the trapping and fundraising.

“Some are friends who have helped me and others are people who I’ve come across as I go along—people who have had cats who I’ve helped and now they help me,” says Lisa. “I really enjoy getting to know all the other cat people in town, the people who do the same thing and have some love.”

While working her job and running Fix and Feed North Haven doesn’t leave much free time, Lisa does enjoy hiking, especially at local areas like Sleeping Giant, Wharton Brook, Peter’s Rock, and the Marsh Trail. Her focus, though, is on helping the feral cats in town.

“I just have compassion for these cats,” says Lisa. “The outdoor ferals are the unwanted, unseen animals out there. You might see cats go by and you don’t know they’re homeless because they know how to take care of themselves, but a little intervention can help them immensely.”

Donations can be made online at fixandfeednorthhaven.org through Paypal or checks can be mailed to Fix and Feed North Haven, Inc., P.O. Box 253, North Haven, CT, 06473.