In 2012, Sheven Poole moved into a house in Fort Worth that came with its very own litter of kittens. Poole’s inability to find a rescue group to help her spay/neuter and take in the clan encouraged her to start her own, Good Neighbors Animal Rescue (GNAR).

In the first six months of GNAR, Poole and volunteers were able to spay and neuter 500 cats through Spay Neuter Network with a $50,000 grant from PetSmart charities.

“We are trying fill that niche that wasn’t there to help me,” Poole said. “If we didn’t have these low cost clinic options, then we wouldn’t know what we would be able to do.”

Poole said that GNAR is dependent on Spay Neuter Network and the Texas Coalition for Animal Protection for services. Spay Neuter Network still frequently brings a mobile clinic to the Fiesta Mart parking lot on 8th Ave. to offer local residents inexpensive vaccinations and spays/neuters for pets and feral cats.

Not only that, but the help of volunteers is what is keeping 15 dogs and 100 cats off the streets and out of the crowded local shelter. Alan Ware is a GNAR volunteer who began fostering after taking in a couple of kitten litters on his own. He is currently taking care of 13 GNAR cats.

“I am one of the three GNAR orphanages,” said Ware. “I have a 10-person tent that I keep out in my garage that all the cats like to run around in.”

According to the website, GNAR neighbors are working towards the larger goal of keeping the stray population in control to reduce the suffering of unwanted, homeless and neglected animals. Poole now lives in the Fairmount district where she said, in the past, there have been many roaming dogs and kitten litters underneath people’s homes, but that GNAR efforts have made a noticeable impact to the community.

“There’s definitely a lot less cats in the community, or if there are then they are spayed and neutered,” Poole said. “We have been told by neighbors that this is the first year or two that they have not had a litter of kittens in their backyard.”

Poole said she hopes that GNAR and Fort Worth residents continue to work together to create a safe environment for these animals. For more information on Good Neighbors Animal Rescue adoption events or how to donate and volunteer visit the GNAR Facebook page or website at http://www.goodneighborsanimalrescue.org.