As a self-described ‘Cat Lady’, Lynda Brinkley’s organization, Cats in the Cradle, has helped more than a thousand cats across the Alpharetta area and abroad. Lynda’s mission is to improve the quality of life for felines as the stray cat population greatly exceeds the amount of homes that are able to care for them. The Cats in the Cradle team assists in providing services that will help, heal, and control the cat population.
Lynda’s volunteering started with a few strays that she took care of in her barn. After seeing how much she could help, she realized she wanted to do more. Lynda reorganized her garage and transformed it into a kitty-proof safe haven for any strays that needed to be cared for. Over the years, a team of volunteers came together to aid Lynda’s mission, and Cats in the Cradle was founded. Since then, she’s recovered more than 1000 cats. In this last year, the Cats in the Cradle crew had almost 200 cats spayed or neutered.
As of June 2022, Lynda has 45 cats that she and her team take care of. Lynda wakes up at 7:00 a.m. daily to feed the cats and clean up after them. This process can take up to two hours. Lynda’s group of volunteers and team members from Cats in the Cradle are often available to lend a helping hand. Many of the volunteers at Cats in the Cradle assist in feeding the cats, cleaning out the litterboxes, and assist in helping the cats become social with humans and other felines. “It takes more than me,” Lynda adds. “It takes a whole bunch of us.”
Lynda reinforces that the most important thing Cats in the Cradle is doing for the community is helping cats and kittens get spayed and neutered. The cat population is expanding too quickly for all the cats to find loving homes. Lynda explains that many stray cats and kittens are subject to being killed or seriously injured by other animals, automobiles, or other outside forces. By fixing stray cats, Cats in the Cradle ensures that the stray cat population can be limited in a humane manner.
In the case of finding a stray cat, Lynda says the best thing you can do is get them fixed! There are plenty of local vets and nonprofits that are willing to help including Cats in the Cradle. If you’d like to support Lynda and Cats in the Cradle, you can donate cat food, toys, scratching posts, or other donations in person and on her website at catsinthecradlerescue.org.