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Draft:Give Them Ten Movement

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Give Them Ten Movement
Formation2013
Type501(c)(3)
FocusFeline welfare; spaying and neutering education
Location
  • Cincinnati, Ohio
Area served
Cincinnati, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Northern Kentucky
Key people
Deborah Cribbs, Chair
Websitegivethemten.org

The Give Them Ten Movement (also known as the Ten Movement) is a nonprofit initiative founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Its goal is to control cat overpopulation through spaying and neutering to give cats healthier, longer lives. Give Them Ten partners with animal shelters to assist in fostering, adoption, and volunteer efforts.[1]

The name “Give Them Ten” refers to the expression that cats have nine lives. The movement seeks to give them ten by increasing spay/neuter efforts and encouraging adoption and fostering to create a better world where cats can thrive.[2]

History

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Give Them Ten was founded in 2013 by a bequest from the Joanie Bernard Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes feline welfare, education and funding. The foundation memorializes the work of Joanie and Jeanne Bernard, a mother-daughter duo dedicated to bettering the lives of cats.[3] Deborah Cribbs is the chair of the Joanie Bernard Foundation and the Give Them Ten Movement leader.

In 2012, the live-release rate of shelter cats in Cincinnati ranged from 34% to 37% — for every three cats that entered a shelter, only one was adopted.[4] Give Them Ten was created to increase live-release rates by curbing overpopulation through trap-neuter-return (TNR) methods and educating pet owners on spaying and neutering.

Mission

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Through work with shelter partners, Give Them Ten creates a better world for cats by advocating for more spaying and neutering efforts. This is the simplest, most humane method for addressing feline overpopulation. Controlling overpopulation leads to fewer homeless cats and kittens and less shelter overcrowding.[2]

Campaigns

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Since 2013, Give Them Ten’s mascot has been Scooter the Neutered Cat™, a “cool, 1970s-inspired” orange cat wearing aviators, chains and a turtleneck sweater. Scooter educates the population on spaying and neutering, adoption and fostering, and responsible pet care. The campaign uses humor and a distinct message to assure pet owners that “it’s hip to be snipped.”[5][6]

Since his inception, Scooter has remained a vital part of the Give Them Ten Movement. Despite only airing in two markets, his original TV commercial, directed by Jordan Brady, reached over 162 million people and has appeared on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher”[7] and Spike TV’s “Funniest TV Commercials.”[8] Scooter is active on social media, with almost 200,000 followers. He has appeared in several Give Them Ten campaigns.[6] Alongside Scooter, in 2015, the movement introduced Marmalade, a female counterpart, to promote spaying at shelters.[9]

In 2016 and 2018, respectively, the movement launched the campaigns “Talk to Your Cat About Sex”[10] and “Cat Math,”[4] which included billboards and TV spots.

In 2020, Give Them Ten launched “Mild Kingdom,” which was featured at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.[11] This campaign focused on educating people about community cats from around the region and encouraging trap-neuter-return programs through videos and a field guide. Community cats that participated in TNR were added to “Scooter’s Safari Squad” and acted as ambassadors for TNR.[12]

Give Them Ten’s most recent campaign is “The Great Debate,”[13] a series of videos created by John O’Hagan and Hungry Man Productions that shows cat lovers and haters throughout history agreeing on spaying and neutering. Give Them Ten provides a path for each side — helping the cat lover spay or neuter their cat and helping the cat hater curb feline overpopulation.[14]

Partnerships

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Give Them Ten has partnered with various shelters in Southwest Ohio, Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana. These organizations include the United Coalition for Animals (UCAN), Ohio Alleycat Resource (OAR), SPCA Cincinnati, Cincinnati Animal CARE, League for Animal Welfare, Save the Animals Foundation (STAF), The Scratching Post, Humane Society of Greater Dayton, SICSA Pet Adoption and Resource Center, and Boone County Animal Care & Control. The Joanie Bernard Foundation provides funding to these organizations to perform TNR methods for outdoor cats, promote adoptions, and generally lessen cat euthanasia numbers in Greater Cincinnati, Greater Dayton, and Northern Kentucky. [15]

In 2015, Give Them Ten and the Joanie Bernard Foundation worked with shelter mentor Target Zero and animal welfare consulting firm Team Shelter USA to gift the Northern Kentucky Area Development District (NKADD)[16] a grant split among eight Kentucky counties to fund low-cost spay/neuter programs and provide equipment to facilitate TNR. Groups that benefited from the grant include four private clinics, the Humane Society of Oldham County, UCAN, OAR, and the Kenton County Animal Shelter, as well as those handling cat colonies in Boone, Campbell, and Grant Counties.[17] In 2019, a new grant under the name the Bluegrass Cat Project was given to the Bluegrass Area Development District (BGADD)[18] to spay and neuter cats in 13 central Kentucky counties in and around the Lexington–Fayette metropolitan area.[19] With the success of these programs, the organization has committed to funding a new iteration in Louisville, Kentucky.[17] The Joanie Bernard Foundation has continued to supply grants through 2024 to animal shelters to fund their spay and neuter programs.[20]

While Give Them Ten does not currently have shelter partners in Indiana, the organization awarded a grant to “The FIX is IN!,” a partnership spay/neuter program between Pet Friendly Services of Indiana[21] and Public Vet.[22] This grant was used to spay/neuter 4,000 cats in four Indiana counties.[23] Additionally, in 2023 and 2024, the movement introduced “Scooter’s Spay-a-thon” in southeast Indiana, visiting 19 counties in “The FIX is IN!” mobile clinic to offer low-cost spaying and neutering.[24]

The movement has worked with other well-known animal nonprofits, including the Cincinnati Zoo, My Furry Valentine,[25] Best Friends Animal Society,[26] and the Humane Society of the United States.[27] In 2023, Give Them Ten and the Michelson Found Animals Foundation funded a study by the Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) demonstrating the efficacy of a non-surgical alternative to spaying in female cats. The study was featured in Nature Communications’ June 2023 edition.[28]

Give Them Ten created a licensee program in 2022, granting those who sign up permission to use Scooter the Neutered Cat and other campaign work in their community.[29] Under this licensing program, Give Them Ten and Scooter have appeared with PetSavers at the Testicle Festival in Spokane Valley, Washington,[30] and twice with It Takes a Village Rescue & Resources—first with the Quad City River Bandits at their “All Strikes & No Balls” baseball game in Davenport, Iowa,[31] and at the charity’s third annual car show in Muscatine, Iowa. Other licensee partners include the Ingham County Animal Control in Mason, Michigan; the Spay Neuter Project in Columbia, Missouri; Kauai Humane Society in Kauai, Hawaii; People Assisting Animal Control (PAAC) in Corpus Christi, Texas; the Help Spay Neuter Clinic in Newnan, Georgia; and Robinson’s Rescue in Shreveport, Louisiana.[32]

Events

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In addition to partner events, Give Them Ten and Scooter have appeared at several charity events around Cincinnati. In 2016, Scooter participated in a Mascot Broomball game on Fountain Square, Cincinnati’s ice rink,[33] and in 2018, he made an appearance at the SpayGhetti and No Balls dinner in Newport, Kentucky, which benefited UCAN’s spay and neuter program.[34] In 2021, Give Them Ten and Scooter supported the Furry Skurry fundraising event for the Humane Society of Greater Dayton,[35] and the Pawty Pawlooza event for the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati’s Pet Support Program.[36] In 2024, Scooter attended the Boone County Animal Shelter ribbon cutting.[37]

Give Them Ten leaders have spoken at various webinars and conferences, including the 2021 and 2024 Community Cat Conference,[38] a webinar with American Pets Alive!,[39] the 2023 Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo,[40] the 2023 Northeast and Southwest Ohio Community Cat Summits,[41] the 2024 Indiana Welfare Conference,[42] and a webinar with the Nonprofit Show.[43] Chair Deborah Cribbs has also appeared in episodes of the podcasts Cattitude,[44] Oh Behave!,[45] and Nine Lives with Dr. Kat.[46]

Controversies & Criticism

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In 2015, Give Them Ten placed trash bins that made meowing sounds with labels reading “Kitten Disposal” and images of discarded kittens around downtown Cincinnati. The bins were meant to create shock value and draw attention to the fact that cats and kittens die every 20 minutes in kill shelters across the nation.[47][48]

While the TNR method is upheld by Give Them Ten and other animal welfare organizations such as Alley Cat Allies, the ASPCA, and the Humane Society, it is still considered controversial. Wildlife conservation groups believe free-roaming cats are detrimental to bird populations, while opponents see feral cats as a public health threat and believe that TNR does not do enough to reduce cat colonies.[49]

Results

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Give Them Ten’s various campaigns and efforts have led to a higher live release rate in Greater Cincinnati. By bringing awareness to the trap-neuter-return method and spaying/neutering cats, Give Them Ten has helped bring live release rates from 34-37% to over 95% in the counties of Hamilton, Clermont, and Montgomery in Ohio and Boone in Kentucky.[27][50][51] In 2023, Best Friends Animal Society reported that, in general, Ohio had a total live release rate of 85.9%—one of the highest in the nation.[52]

References

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  1. ^ "Give Them Ten: Giving Cats an Extra Life". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  2. ^ a b "About Us". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  3. ^ "Joanie Bernard Foundation". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  4. ^ a b "What does that 1+1=14 billboard mean?". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  5. ^ "Scooter Says: It's Hip to Be Snipped". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  6. ^ a b "More Scooter to Neuter". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  7. ^ "Scooter the Neutered Cat on Bill Maher". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  8. ^ "7 of the Funniest Commercials of the Year". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  9. ^ "Marmalade Joins Give Them Ten". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  10. ^ "Talk to Your Cat About Sex". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  11. ^ "What's New at the Zoo?". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  12. ^ "Mild Kingdom". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  13. ^ "The Great Debate". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  14. ^ "The Great Debate Campaign". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  15. ^ "Our Partners". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  16. ^ "NKADD Website". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  17. ^ a b "Million Dollar Question". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  18. ^ "BGADD Website". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  19. ^ "Development District Grant for Cat Program". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  20. ^ "Kenton County Animal Shelter Grant". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  21. ^ "Pet Friendly Services". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  22. ^ "Public Vet". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  23. ^ "The Fix is In Grant". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  24. ^ "Indiana Spay-a-thon". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  25. ^ "My Furry Valentine Sponsors". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  26. ^ "Best Friends Animal Society". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  27. ^ a b "How Cincinnati Became a Cat-Caring Community". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  28. ^ "Nature Communications: Non-Surgical Contraceptive for Cats". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  29. ^ "GTT Licensee Program" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  30. ^ "PetSavers at Testicle Festival". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  31. ^ "All Strikes & No Balls Baseball Game". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  32. ^ "Robinson's Rescue Joins Feline Welfare Campaign". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  33. ^ "Mascot Broomball". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  34. ^ "SpayGhetti and No Balls Dinner". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  35. ^ "Furry Skurry Fundraising Event". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  36. ^ "Pawty Pawlooza Event". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  37. ^ "Boone County Animal Shelter News". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  38. ^ "Community Cat Conference". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  39. ^ "Driving a Cat Culture Shift Webinar". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  40. ^ "HSUS Animal Care Expo 2023". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  41. ^ "Ohio Community Cat Summits". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  42. ^ "Indiana Animal Welfare Conference". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  43. ^ "Nonprofit Show Webinar". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  44. ^ "Cattitude Podcast". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  45. ^ "Oh Behave! Podcast". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  46. ^ "Nine Lives with Dr. Kat Podcast". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  47. ^ "Kitten Disposal Bins Spark Debate". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  48. ^ "Shocking Spay and Neuter Displays". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  49. ^ "Why Activists Are Fighting Over Feral Cats". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  50. ^ "Cincinnati Animal Care Sets Record for Live Release Rate". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  51. ^ "Best Friends: Kentucky Shelter Statistics". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  52. ^ "Best Friends: Ohio Shelter Statistics". Retrieved 2024-11-20.
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