How organizations can help community cats

Whether you’re a large shelter, a private nonprofit, a municipal agency or a small all-volunteer rescue, there are ways to help your area’s community cats.

Community cats produce around 80% of the kittens born in the U.S. each year. It’s only by caring for and managing community cats that we can reduce cat overpopulation, which impacts the welfare of all cats and creates an ongoing drain on shelter and rescue resources.

Launch a community cat program

This can take many forms, such as a return-to-field program where eligible cats that come into your shelter are sterilized, vaccinated, ear-tipped and returned to where they came from. Or for an animal control agency, it may mean following the guidance on not impounding healthy stray cats as detailed by the National Animal Care and Control Association. Even if you currently lack the budget for a full-fledged trap-neuter-return program, there are many low-cost or no-cost ways your organization can empower TNR efforts in your area.

Collaborate

Join or start a coalition of local cat groups to focus on community cat management. You can accomplish more by working together.

Find funding to help cats

Visit HumanePro.org for information on organizations that offer financial assistance as well as tips on grant writing and fundraising ideas.

Bring on volunteers to help the cats

There aren’t enough hours in the day when it comes to helping community cats. Volunteers can assist you in many ways. Learn how to recruit and retain volunteers, and take advantage of online training to teach your volunteers how to do TNR.

Learn—and perhaps improve—the laws about cats

The number of organizations devoted to helping community cats is growing. As a result, some local governments now recognize that a comprehensive strategy to manage cat overpopulation requires them to work with cat advocates.

However, municipalities often have limitations and ways of doing things that advocates from the private sector might not be aware of. Collaborative efforts rely on mutual understanding and respect.

Learn how to work with your municipalities and elected officials to make progress for cats. Endorsed by the International City/County Management Association, Managing Community Cats: A Guide for Municipal Leaders is a free guide designed to help communities find long-lasting, nonlethal solutions to conflicts involving community cats.

If the laws in your municipality don’t facilitate helping cats, work with your local officials to improve the laws. For help with ordinances and law changes, please email us at  [email protected]