Programs

Millions of cats are killed in shelters and humane societies each year, for lack of space. Thousands more die as strays from accidents, disease, and at the hands of those who call them a “nuisance.” Too many kittens are born, resulting in more cats than people to care for them. Alley Cat Rescue looks to solve this problem through its innovative adoption model that not only provides an additional outlet for placing the local “surplus” cat population in adoptive homes, but also includes an aggressive spay-neuter program and increased public education.

 

Adoption Program

ACR’s adoption program finds loving, furrever homes for about 250 cats and kittens each year. We find homes for abandoned, stray, and relinquished cats; we also socialize feral kittens and work to find barn homes for feral cats. Prior to adoption, all cats receive a medical evaluation, including sterilization, vaccinations, testing, and are treated for parasites. All cats and kittens also undergo a temperament analysis prior to re-homing. If a cat or kitten is unable to be socialized, ACR will find a barn home. For friendly cats, ACR partners with a local Petsmart store to function as our adoption center. Our innovative adoption program has helped thousands of stray and abandoned cats find good homes.

 

• As a Luv-a-Pet participant, Alley Cat Rescue currently operates adoption centers at PETsMART stores.
• Through having an adoption site, ACR is alerting the public to the problem and educating them about solutions.
• ACR practices neuter-before-adoption thus ensuring rescued cats do not contribute to the overpopulation tragedy.

• Check out our Adoption page for more information and to view some of our available cats.

 

Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic
Alley Cat Rescue is offering a low-cost spay/neuter clinic to low-income residents of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.

The cost to neuter a male cat is $40 and the cost to spay a female is $45. The costs include the surgery and rabies & distemper vaccinations; additional services will be covered by the individual. For more information on this program and to get an application, please contact ACR by phone or by email.

 

Download the application.

 

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Program

TNR VIDEO

 

TNR is the humane approach to managing community cats and is a proven method in reducing the number of homeless cats.

A feral cat is a free-roaming cat who is born and raised in the wild or has been abandoned or lost and has reverted back to its “wild” instinctual self in order to survive. Feral cats are also called “alley cats,” “street cats,” “outside cats,” or “wild house-cats” just to name a few. While some feral cats tolerate different degrees of human contact, most are too fearful and wild to be handled. Because of their deep seated fear of humans, these cats are not candidates for an adoption program; however, they can live long and healthy lives outdoors with the support from dedicated caregivers who provide spay/neuter services, food/water and shelter.

 

Alley Cat Rescue operates a TNR program for feral cats. Feral cats are sterilized, eartipped, vaccinated against rabies, distemper, and the Feline Leukemia Virus, and are treated for internal parasites and fleas. Feral cats are thoroughly examined and any wounds and injuries are also treated.

 

Our feral cat clinic operates Monday through Friday and is by appointment only. We ask for a $50 donation to help cover the cost of surgery and treatment. We also rent humane traps and demonstrate how to use them properly. To schedule an appointment to bring in a feral cat to be sterilized or to borrow a trap, please call our office to make arrangements. For more information on feral cats and TNR please check out our FAQs and Cat & Feral Facts sections. 

 

Campaigns

For many years, Alley Cat Rescue has been engaged in promoting humane solutions to resolving the complex issues of cat overpopulation, especially those relating to feral cats. They are often classified as "non-native" species, despite that they have been living in a feral state in the United States for almost 500 years.

 

Our programs and campaigns to end the killing of healthy stray and feral cats in local shelters are diverse. They range from actual, hands-on trapping and sterilization of cats, to running low-cost spay clinics for companion cats, as well as promoting education and public relations to help cats. We are constantly working to put an end to the myths and misinformation surroundings these innocent creatures. When cats are considered nothing more than "pests" and "nuisances," this current trend of scapegoating dangerously fosters and promotes cruelty to animals.  

 

At ACR, we believe that ALL animals, whether "exotic," "alien," or "introduced," all deserve our respect and compassion, and if humane, non-lethal methods for controlling their populations are offered, then these should be the preferred methods--instead of out-dated, inhumane, lethal eradication techniques.

 

Spay Day USA

 

Spay Day USA 2011 - ACR once again partnered with the Brentwood Animal Hospital to provide low-cost spay/neuter services to the local community. We would like to thank the entire BAH staff, especially Dr. McFadden and Dr. Lowe, for working tirelessly to sterilize a total of 32 cats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spay Day USA 2010 - Dr. Manzoor and the Brentwood Animal Hospital partnered with ACR to advocate for low-cost sterilization to combat pet homelessness. Joining the team was Dr. McFadden and Dr. Caroline Preyer. ACR would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Preyer, a graduate of Ohio State University, for volunteering her time to help us out. We would also like to thank Christi Fries, of Terrapin Pets, for helping with trapping and transporting of feral cats. Together, we sterilized 40 cats! 

 

 

 

 

 

Free Feral Cat Spay Day (FFCSD)

 

Veterinary Clinic Directory
(Locate participating veterinary clinics in your area)

Event Registration
(For veterinary clinics interested in participating)

Contribution
(Unable to participate but would like to make a donation for this program)

Record Your Results
(Enter the number of community cats your clinic sterilized)


On April 27th 2010, ACR launched Free Feral Cat Spay Day (FFCSD)! We know the name is a mouth-full but the idea behind this important day is simple...offer free and low-cost trap-neuter-return (TNR) services to those who care for feral cats to encourage the veterinary community and individuals to get involved in putting an end to cat homelessness and decreasing euthanasia rates at local shelters.

ACR President and Alley Cat Allies co-founder, Louise Holton, sent out a plea to veterinarians across the US, asking them to participate on this important day by offering at least two free spays or neuters of feral cats to the public. The response we received was amazing! For only being the first year for FFCSD, over 150 vets across the US participated.  And thanks to our compassionate friends in South Africa, FFCSD has become an INTERNATIONAL campaign! The South African Veterinary Association and the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Veterinary Science, along with a group of dedicated individuals at Sun City Resort, also participated by offering low-cost sterilization services to free-roaming cats.

Cat rescue organizations cannot tackle this problem on their own; they need the support of the veterinary community. Our intention is not to place a burden of caring for the country’s stray and feral cats on veterinarians, but rather we are hoping that the public will respond to this as well, and a network will be created to help solve this national epidemic. Individuals will build relationships with participating vets, and over time, this will bring more business to the veterinary community. By establishing long-term relationships between vets and rescuers, together they can help their town’s stray cat population. Countless animal supporters already volunteer at local shelters and have established long-lasting rapports with vet clinics; and, individuals are learning to fund raise for future veterinary care. ACR wants to make it clear, that this day is not only meant to help reduce feral cat numbers and assist colony caretakers, but to also help the veterinary community, by showing their compassion for animals and by bringing them new clients in the future.

Together, we hope that our work will continue to inspire others to offer low-cost spay/neuter services, especially for feral cats. Most individuals understand the importance of spaying or neutering companion cats, but feral cats are often over looked. Unsterilized feral cats easily contribute to the overpopulation problem and can just as easily be prevented through low-cost TNR programs. By creating this nationally recognized day—Free Feral Cat Spay Day—Alley Cat Rescue hopes to strengthen the relationships between clients and veterinarians and the relationship between humans and stray/feral cats. We understand that pet overpopulation is not a simple issue nor is there a "simple" solution, but if people are willing to help the community and get involved (and individuals are getting involved by practicing TNR), then why not ban together and see this project through? A long history has brought us to this current state, and there is no quick fix to the problem. Ultimately, a long-term, humane, management plan needs to be implemented, if we are ever to get a handle on cat homelessness.

 

Thank you to ALL who participated! We look forward to partnering with you in the future and making each year even more successful than the last! If you are a veterinary clinic wanting to participate, please click here to sign up. If you are a rescuer or individual needing TNR services, please click here to locate a participating veterinarian near you. If you are unable to participate but would still like to contribute to this campaign, please click here. For more information on this campaign and how to get involved or to get your veterinarian involved on Free Feral Cat Spay Day, please contact us!

 

Alley Cat Rescue thanks our FFCSD sponsors!




**If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of Free Feral Cat Spay Day, please contact us acr@saveacat.org**