NEIGHBORHOOD CATS INC
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : s***n@n**************s.o*g
Mission Statement
Established in 1999, Neighborhood Cats has grown to be a leader in the field of feral cat welfare. We are dedicated to fighting pet overpopulation and the tragic loss of life that results when too many unwanted, unadoptable cats are turned in to shelters. Using the method known as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) we impact thousands of free-roaming kittens and cats each year through our hands-on programs in New York City, Jersey City and the island of Maui in Hawaii. Our educational and advocacy efforts help thousands more cats and people who care about them in communities across the country.
About This Cause
Neighborhood Cats’ work began in New York City in 1999 with a single colony of forgotten cats. Since then we have grown to become a leader in the management and humane treatment of community cats everywhere. We are committed to ending the widespread loss of life caused by unchecked breeding of animals whose fate, because they are not adoptable, has historically been euthanasia when turned in to shelters. Using Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), the best and most effective method available to end the overpopulation of free-roaming cats, we work to lower the numbers of ferals and strays in cities and towns nationwide while improving quality of life for outdoor cats. Our mission is to prevent suffering and save lives by making TNR fully understood, accepted and practiced in every community. Neighborhood Cats is unique in that we work on both local, national and international levels and accomplish our goals through a combination of hands-on projects, education and advocacy. Major program activities include: TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN (TNR) / Many communities in the United States today have an overpopulation of outdoor cats. Without intervention these kittens and cats face enormous hardships, and their presence can have serious consequences for local animal shelters as well as impacting public health. TNR is the best method for reducing the numbers of ferals and strays while dramatically improving their quality of life. TNR involves trapping all the cats in a colony, having them spayed and neutered, vaccinated and ear tipped for identification, then returning them to their original territory where a trained caretaker provides food and shelter. In New York City, Neighborhood Cats offers a citywide program to assist residents in performing TNR. We provide training, free equipment loans, on-site project support, and guidance. To best help newly certified trappers successfully complete their first projects our Coach Program pairs them with experienced trappers, who offer assistance in the field, plus advice and mentoring until the project is concluded. As resources allow we help with scheduling spay/neuter appointments and with transportation to and from surgery and we assist in coordinating services for feral cats among the agencies in New York City who contribute to the overall TNR effort. In Jersey City, NJ and on Maui we engage in targeted TNR projects, focusing trapping in selected areas to maximize our long-term impact. NOTE: The coronavirus has temporarily impacted the hands-on services we are able to offer. For example, the availability of spay/neuter is currently limited, making large trappings difficult. Our COVID-19 Rescue Fund is meeting urgent needs created by the pandemic. For more info go to www.neighborhoodcats.org. NEIGHBORHOOD CATS TNR WORKSHOPS / Each month, Neighborhood Cats offers comprehensive Trap-Neuter-Return workshops in locales across New York City. Participants learn how to safely and humanely care for the cats in their neighborhoods and to make use of the many resources available to assist them. All steps in setting up a managed colony are covered, including trapping, caring for cats while they're confined pre- and post-surgery, feeding, sheltering, establishing good community relations and more. To achieve most efficient results, emphasis is placed on the importance of mass trapping – that is, TNRing an entire feral cat colony at once. Workshop graduates become TNR certified and gain access to no- and low-cost spay/neuter, use of traps and equipment at no charge, and expert guidance and assistance. This innovative and hugely successful program has trained more than 8,000 caretakers to date. Schedule of upcoming workshops is posted on the Neighborhood Cats website, www.neighborhoodcats.org/tnr-in-nyc/workshops. NOTE: Due to COVID-19, in-person workshops have been suspended until further notice. Neighborhood Cats is now offering online training including TNR instructional workshops and our popular Community Cat Workshop series, presented quarterly and including "Trapper Tips & Tricks", "Caretaker Tips & Tricks", "The Drop Trap: a Trapper's Best Friend" and "Return to Field: What is it, why do it and how?", all hosted by the Community Cats Podcast (communitycatspodcast.com). The series is archived and available for free viewing on the Community Cats Podcast. SHADY'S FUND / Working with outdoor cats means that sometimes, inevitably, you will come across cats who are sick or hurt and in urgent need of veterinary care. Common medical needs are treatment for respiratory infections, eye problems due to viral infection (these infections often lead to blindness without proper treatment), wound care, pyometra (life-threatening inflammation of the uterus) and advanced dental disease. When extra help is needed to save lives and spare suffering, Neighborhood Cats turns to Shady’s Fund, our critical-care fund. Named in honor of "Shady", a beloved rescue kitty, the fund offers underwriting for life-giving veterinary treatment and related expenses. Support through Shady’s Fund is granted on a case-by-case basis. Typically, awards cover veterinary care for sick or injured ferals with positive prognoses (such as suturing lacerations), and aid community members who wish to help feral cats in their neighborhoods but are unable to do so without assistance (for example, senior citizens who can put out food every morning, but are themselves too frail to trap and transport cats to spay/neuter clinics). Shady’s Fund makes medical care and lifesaving services possible for those who would otherwise have no way of finding help. GIMME SHELTER! / Each year Neighborhood Cats’ Gimme Shelter! Program distributes insulated shelters to local caretakers, to help feral cats in NY survive the harsh winter months. Ongoing need is great as community cats are often looked after by individuals with limited financial resources. For these caretakers, simply buying food sufficient to supply their colonies is a daily struggle. Many have no money left to pay for other essentials, including medical care or winter shelter. To best help caretakers, shelters are provided to low-income individuals by Neighborhood Cats at no charge; the rest are made available at cost. Last season we distributed more than 900 shelters to caretakers in New York City and Jersey City - enough to keep about 3,700 outdoor cats warm all winter! By providing shelter, much suffering can be spared, and quality of life can be vastly improved for community cats. Because Neighborhood Cats’ mission is to gradually reduce feral populations over time while making life better for the cats, we make every effort to further effective spay/neuter practices. Toward that end, we strongly encourage trappers and caretakers to fix feral cats throughout the winter months, when less mating activity means fewer pregnancies and therefore, simpler, safer spays for the females. When adequate winter shelter is available, cats released after surgery do extremely well, but because the females’ bellies will be shaved during their spays, they MUST have access to insulated shelter. In the absence of adequate shelter winter spay/neuter cannot be recommended. Neighborhood Cats' Gimme Shelter! Program allows TNR activity to continue uninterrupted and prevents this important window of opportunity to control free-roaming cat breeding from being lost. EDUCATION / TNR is a fast-developing field and there is a tremendous need for information so programs everywhere can be most effectively implemented. Neighborhood Cats is a leading source for this information via our website (viewed by visitors from more than 150 countries in 2019), award-winning educational materials (e.g., "How to Perform a Mass Trapping", our 32-minute instructional video), via social media, webinars and other outreach. Our acclaimed "Neighborhood Cats TNR Handbook: The Guide to Trap-Neuter-Return for the Feral Cat Caretaker" has been hailed by The Humane Society of the United States as “the most comprehensive and up-to-the-minute resource for educating caretakers on all aspects of colony management”. In 2020 our "Return to Field Guide," co-authored in 2019 with The Humane Society of the United States and Alley Cat Advocates, was awarded a coveted Certificate of Excellence from the Cat Writers Association. We offer guidance to new and established TNR groups in the US and abroad, addressing concerns with hands-on projects and dealings with their municipalities. In NYC we host a Yahoo discussion group, facilitating exchange of information so that resources can be maximized and ideas shared. CATSTATS / Neighborhood Cats created CatStats to help organizations better oversee and manage feral cat populations on a community-wide scale. CatStats is the ultimate TNR program management tool; the online database allows groups to enter and track colonies; map colonies; request services such as transport of cats to the spay/neuter clinic and more. It is available at no charge exclusively from Neighborhood Cats for use by approved animal welfare organizations. Currently well over 100 organizations across the U.S. and overseas are using CatStats to most effectively help cats in their communities. NEIGHBORHOOD CATS VETERINARY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM / Launched in 2014, this program helps veterinarians increase spay/neuter capacity in their communities for feral cats and other at-risk animals (such as pit bulls). By underwriting tuition and travel costs for training in high-volume, high-quality low-cost spay/neuter, the program helps doctors achieve greater surgical speed and efficiency, resulting in better management of outdoor cat and companion animal populations in underserved communities where resources are most needed. Instruction through the program is provided at the ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance Training Center in Asheville, NC where each scholarship recipient attends four days of intensive classroom and clinical training. To date Neighborhood Cats has awarded a dozen scholarships representing recipients from across the US, Mexico, Israel and Ecuador. NOTE: Due to restrictions imposed by COVID-19, this program is temporarily on hold.