Gray Hawk Stray Cat Rescue Hopes To Continue Mission After DeLong’s Departure

A passion for homeless cats led Steve DeLong to begin feeding a stray named Moses near the home of his former business, Gray Hawk Fitness, in 2016.

Other cats soon appeared.

“I just started feeding cats at my business,” DeLong said. “It started with one cat. He died. Then the second cat started coming around, and I started feeding him. Then they just started showing up.”

“They were having kittens,” Laurie Ebeling, president of Gray Hawk Stray Cat Rescue, added. “The little herd of cats multiplied to the point where we were concerned.”

“Then we started trapping and neutering and spaying,” DeLong said.

In a little more than two years, between 75 and 100 cats were caught, spayed or neutered and turned over to foster “parents,” who take care of them and make sure they are ready to be adopted by permanent families.

The rescue operation hit a crossroads at the end of 2018.

DeLong closed his fitness center and is moving back to Chicago, leaving Ebeling and a handful of volunteers to carry on.

Ebeling said the group planned to meet to reorganize in DeLong’s absense. …

Anyone interested in being a foster or helping trap should contact her at laurie.ebeling@sbcglobal.net or 573-701-2597. They may also contact her on the Facebook page, Gray Hawk Project Stray Cat.

See complete story in the February 13 edition of the Herald.