Spay,Neuter & Feed Stray/Feral Cats

My name is Kathleen Schlentz and this campaign is for my good friend Willie Ortiz. Everyday, 83 year-old Willie scours his town of East Hartford and neighboring towns for scrap metal. He loads up his truck, and sells it....for cat food! Now we are honoring the work that he has been doing in the Hartford and East Hartford, CT areas and helping him continue his mission.

For the last 31 years, Willie has been feeding, spay, neutering and vaccinating stray and feral cats. He ventures out every night for feedings despite the rain, snow, freezing weather or his own health issues. He only misses nights when it could endanger the cats. On really bad nights, he can't even get to the cats, and on those nights they don't even come out for food.

He spends his days collecting scrap metal to pay for these services, but as the cat population grows that is simply not enough.

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Donations made to this campaign will be used solely to keep his cats fed, spay/neutered, vaccinated and lastly secure his mission for years to come. This will also allow Willie to get more cats spayed, neutered and vaccinated, all of which costs $90.00 per cat.

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Willie’s Story:

I have never met a more committed person, Willie unknowingly inspires me in so many ways. Knowing him has made my life better, just by doing what he does so effortlessly. He is a loving, caring, and honest man who believes very strongly in God and all of his goodness, despite the pain and suffering he sees.

He is a Veteran of the U. S. Army, a husband of 63 years to his wife Aleja, father of two, grandfather of four and great grandfather of two. He loves all animals, but recognized the problem with the feral and stray cat population in and around the Hartford and East Hartford areas. When he started this 31 years ago he didn't know this was to be his mission in life.

Presently he feeds 19 colonies (a total of 87 cats) of feral and stray cats. Every single night, (only missing nights when conditions would endanger the cats).

“If it snows more than three inches, I don’t go because I don’t want them getting their bellies wet, cold and possibly get sick. But I'll go the next morning and feed them double", says Willie.

Willie's cats are all very healthy, because he makes sure they get what they need to have as good and healthy a life as possible. The life expectancy for a feral or stray cat living on the streets is about

5 1/2 years. Willie has cats he has been feeding for 15 years and longer.

But the cat colonies are constantly changing, with new cats wandering in or getting dropped off by people that won't or can't care for them. Others getting hit by cars or not making it through the freezing cold New England winters. Willie makes sure that the newcomers get spayed and neutered as soon as he can trap them (in a "Have a Heart" trap, of course).

He makes “cubbies” for the cats to keep warm in the snowy winters. They are frequently stolen and vandalized, so making more can be a full time job at times.

His friend Roberta, picks up pregnant cats and mama cats so they can give birth and raise their babies out of the cold and in a warm, safe environment. Once they are wined, she has them spayed, neutered and vaccinated. Now it's time to find them forever homes (if the mothers are adoptable she finds homes for them too).

Willie keeps his eyes open for friendly adoptable cats. Roberta will keep them for as long as needed to be sure they can live happily in a home. It is always the better choice to have friendly street cats live in a loving forever home. They live much longer, healthier lives.

Right now, the most important thing to Willie is to slow down the feral and stray cat population and that means getting all of them spayed and neutered as soon as possible. He knows this is the only real solution.

To pay for all of his efforts, Willie hunts for discarded scrap metal every single day. He gets a fair amount of people that have hear about him and his mission. Lastly, he has had connections with various businesses for years that so kindly donate scrap metal on a continuous basis.

If there is anything that he can sell for a higher dollar, he sells it on Craigslist to make a bit more money for his cats.

The price of scrap metal is at an all time low, so after hours of collecting scape metal, he may only receive $20.00 to $30.00 for a full truck load. Thank goodness for his generous doners!

Willie knows very well that he could not continue his mission without them.

As you can see, Willie is completely dedicated to his cats. Knowing Willie has been a very humbling experience for me and I am so thankful to call him my friend. Please support Willie and his cats if at all possible. By donating to this campaign, you have not only helped these innocent cats live longer, healthier lives, but you have also become part of the solution to a very big problem in the Hartford and East Hartford Communities. Thank you for reading Willie's story and please spread the word.

Willie and I have worked together to apply for and receive approval for a non-profit status (501c3).

"Go Fund Me" transfers the funds in his champaign (as donations are made), directly into his "business bank account" opened soley for this purpose. All the funds in this bank account will be used solely for the purposes outlined in his campaign and to keep his "business" and "life's mission" running legally and effectively.