Collection Guide
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Cat Network (Stanford) records
SC1626
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Stanford Cat Network, records
Identifier/Call Number: SC1626
Physical Description:
2 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1989-1999
Physical Location: Special Collections
and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36-48 hours in
advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website:
http://library.stanford.edu/spc .
Physical Location: Special Collections
and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged at least 36 hours in
advance.
The collection includes Stanford Cat Network policy documentation, newsletters, and
photographs of working cats on Stanford campus.
The Stanford Cat Network (SCN) was founded in 1989, at which time there were approximately
1,000 feral cats on campus. Faculty and students came together in collaboration with the
Palo Alto Humane Society, and devised a plan to save the cats. They established the Stanford
Cat Network to coordinate volunteers, publish reports of new, tame cats on campus in The
Daily (in case any were lost pets) and trap all the cats for spay/neuter. After
sterilization surgery paid for by the Palo Alto Humane Society, those who were social would
be adopted into homes and the rest returned to campus under the watchful eye and care of the
volunteers at feeding stations. At the same time, the Cat Network would educate students not
to adopt pets they could not care for, distributing materials discouraging the act. This
would keep the cat population from reproducing or growing, allowing it to slowly decrease
over time. The program received buy-in from University Administration after the Cat Network
returned President Kennedy's missing cat. The SCN established the first ever Trap Neuter
Release (TNR) program in the country. Over the ensue decades the cat population declined and
cat care literacy increased on campus. The SCN is now known as the Feline Friends
Network.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to
examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made
available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction
beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or
assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish
[identification of item], Stanford Cat Newwork records (SC1626). Department of Special
Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Stanford University -- Campus scenes
Stanford University -- History.
Cats