Talk To Me About Cats, Inc. also known as TTMAC, seeks support from the City of Newburgh to assist with feral and stray cats. TTMAC, founded by Hannah Anderson of Newburgh, is a nonprofit trap-neuter-return group.

On May 23, Hannah Anderson and James Kelly, along with several volunteers and community members addressed the stray and feral cat problem that continues to grow in the city. Speakers also inquired about seeking additional funding for a space that can operate as a shelter to provide a safe space for medical treatment and housing for cats.

Council members thanked Anderson and Kelly and their supporters for coming out to voice their thoughts on the topic and are in support of their work that they do here in the city.

“We really did want to ask the city for help,” Anderson said. “I thought we got a pretty good response and I’m hoping that we will be able to follow up on this.” “We have this opportunity right now because of the pandemic relief money that we could actually do something for the first time. Let’s make this happen,” Kelly said.

Upon moving to Newburgh several years ago, Anderson and Kelly had started to notice cats in their backyard and decided to assist them and find permanent homes for them. The assistance with these cats then led to calls from other residents to help them with their cat problems. For Anderson and Kelly this work is necessary to address the rising problem.

The company, according to Anderson, filed for nonprofit status in early 2021 but had previously been doing this kind of work for the past six years. During 2021, Anderson said TTMAC has adopted out to new homes 130 cats and kittens. Now, the organization is doing the best they can to help each cat, even while Anderson and Kelly keep full-time jobs. TTMAC has received calls from city residents, the city police and even non-cat lovers to help with treatment and care.

The organization mainly operates out of Anderson and Kelly’s home and their volunteer homes as well. The organization has four volunteers at the moment. According to their website, talktomeaboutcats.org, the organization is dedicated to the assistance and care for homeless cats here in the City of Newburgh. TTMAC hopes to continue the building of a network of like-minded volunteers to use the TNR method when helping these animals.

Cats are also brought to Stone Cottage Veterinary Hospital at 154 Route 17K who help with treatment and vaccination and Anderson and Kelly are grateful for the partnership that they have with this animal hospital.

If a person has a stray cat in their possession they should do the following according to Anderson. “Keep it separated from all other pets and make sure it goes to the vet. Those are the two most important ways to protect yourself and your pets and the cat too,” Anderson said. Additionally, Anderson said that TTMAC tries to control the rise in kittens through trapping the mother and spaying before she can have a new litter.

Through the organization, the hope is to foster and grow compassion for these animals and to hopefully find foster and permanent homes for some cats who are able to be adopted. Donations for the work and support of TTMAC can also be given at their website and any people interested in volunteering can review their website for information.

Additional information provided by Anderson is available online so that the public can review if they have questions about TNR or want to learn more about cats.

Alley Cat Allies provides online information about TNR and assisting local outdoor cats. They can be found at alleycat.org. The Animal Rights Alliance [TARA] is a low cost local spay/neuter organization that comes to the city on Mondays. Several services that TARA offers are a voucher program for additional treatment and medical services. However, the voucher program is not available in the City of Newburgh, according to Anderson.

A list found on tara-spayneuter.org/spayneuter/ lists the municipalities that have the voucher program in place. Additionally, TARA offers a loaner trap program, with a refundable deposit according to Anderson. Information can be found on this service at the same link.