With deep gratitude to our donors and volunteers

Donors and volunteers are crucial for every non-profit organization, and SOKS is no different. Thanks to you we are able to help both cats and people in Stockton.

Every spring SOKS has a fundraiser to secure funds for the year. I am truly grateful to those who always participate, individuals and organizations. Thank you for being there for SOKS year after year!

Every single donation matters. Whether you donate once a year or set up a monthly gift, you make it possible for SOKS to carry out our mission. There are too many names to mention here, but I would like to highlight at least a few of our wonderful contributors.

SOKS’ very first donor was the Dogwood Animal Rescue Project who started supporting us right after SOKS was founded in 2022. We are grateful that their support continues even today as costs of medical services grow and we TNR more and more cats.

Adrienne is using a donor platform at work where her monthly donations are matched by her employer. This is a great way to boost your monetary gift!

Nancy was helping community cats in Stockton for many years. Although she is no longer able to do the physical work, she and her husband Michael support SOKS with monthly donations. They understand how important TNR is to maintain a healthy population of cats in our city.

Not only monetary donations keep SOKS going. Joe provides pounds of newspapers needed to line the traps where cats stay before and after their surgeries.

Chris and Scott from Delta Plastics are making sure the trapped cats’ paws are protected in the traps. They provide custom fitted cardboard pieces for inside the traps.

Sometimes it is hard to determine if a person is a donor or a volunteer. Sometimes they are both because they give SOKS their time and skills. We are grateful to Alicia and Laura who always gladly clean the traps after mass trappings.

Maria gives her time to pick up run-over animals from the streets of Stockton. She takes them to the Animal Shelter where they can be properly disposed.

We can also count on Vicky, Robert and Yvette who faithfully ship us cat food to support several feral cat colonies as well as the cats which we fix.

Lastly, we were very honored to be recognized by the Stockton Rotary Club this year. Thank you so much for the donation which will help SOKS continue our work in the Stockton neighborhoods.

It amazes me how many people are involved in our work. I am humbled by your support and I would like to thank ALL of you! It really takes a village.

How 13 volunteers changed the lives of 13 working cats

In early March, SOKS received an alert about a colony of feral cats facing removal from a business property in Stockton. Those were community cats, which could live in barns or warehouses where they provided natural, eco-friendly pest control.

SOKS immediately jumped into action, rallying a group of dedicated volunteers to rescue the animals.

In just one night and one morning, we managed to trap 13 cats! They were safely moved to a garage in a volunteer’s house where they waited to be vaccinated and spayed or neutered.

Because we could not return the cats to their original location, we had to find them new places to live. Remember, those were working cats, not pets, so they could not be placed in people’s homes.

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A wonderful friend of SOKS, who is also a cat rescuer, agreed to give our 13 felines temporary shelter. We drove the kitties to her property in the Bay Area where she set them up in a protected enclosure known as a "catio." That allowed the cats to roam freely without being exposed to any outside dangers (see the video below).

In the meantime, SOKS put out a call for help to find permanent homes, such as barns, warehouses or gardens.

We were so happy when many people responded and were willing to follow a special protocol to relocate our working cats. Proper introduction to a new place takes about three weeks of adjustment. During that time, a cat must remain in an enclosed large dog kennel with food, water and a litter box. Only after that can it be allowed to roam freely.

Ultimately, it took the combined efforts of 13 incredible individuals to save 13 precious cats. Those 13 people were all volunteers involved in the TNR process, driving and feeding the cats, cleaning their enclosures and organizing relocation efforts. Thank you to Rudi, Barbara, both Kellys, Vicky, Judy, Jeanann, Roberta, Susan, Gena, Fiona and Connor. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

We are also incredibly grateful to those who took the cats in to give them a new life. Thank you!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/62d451_b1867e182b8f442599019cd945a40561/480p/mp4/file.mp4

Check out the catio where we temporarily housed the 13 working cats!

Frankie's transformation story, part 2

Read part 1.

Frankie was gradually adjusting to the daily routine of changing his bandages, and his wound was finally starting to heal. During this time, our friendship began to blossom. Frankie grew comfortable enough to roam freely in the garage where we kept his kennel. One day, he even touched my face with his nose! I couldn’t help but start falling in love with this sweet feline boy.

A Creative Solution

Since Frankie never allowed us to clip his claws, I had to come up with a creative solution to prevent him from scratching his wound. Because his injury was near his neck, using a cone wasn’t an option. After some trial and error, I invented a contraption that worked perfectly. This allowed us to skip the daily bandages, giving the wound a chance to breathe while still treating it with manuka honey and silver spray.

Around this time, Frankie stopped needing his kennel and moved to a cozy bedding on the floor. He even started letting us pet him, though he still growled occasionally. He gained a few pounds, and his coat became shiny and healthy. Frankie welcomed everyone who visited “his” garage, including my female indoor cat. Unfortunately, he never warmed up to my little chihuahua, so I have to keep them in separate rooms.

Frankie's Past Unveiled

One day, I received a call from a woman who said she knew Frankie before we rescued him. She explained that his previous owner had passed away, leaving Frankie to fend for himself on the streets. Every day, he would cross a dangerous road to reach a cat colony where neighbors regularly fed the animals. Then, he disappeared for a while. When he returned, he had a nasty wound on his back. He became increasingly distant and wouldn’t let anyone near him. And that was when we met him.

Hoping for a Healthy and Happy Future

Today, Frankie is a healthy, 15-pound sweetheart. Thanks to Dr. Kim, his wound was stitched up, and soon it will be hard to even spot the scar.

I would love to find a forever home for Frankie because he is such a wonderful, laid-back cat. He is confident, calm, and loves sprinting through the house in the early morning and late afternoon. His favorite napping spot is on top of the armchair. While he gazes longingly out the windows, he doesn’t seem eager to venture outside.

And that is Frankie's story. Please contact us to adopt Frankie.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/62d451_7f6d38e57c9c4a5ab9d3b919742439b2/720p/mp4/file.mp4