Guide to the Stanford Cat Network, records SC1626

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.