August 8, 2023 – Today is a great day to give extra love to your cat, but it’s also a good opportunity to talk about how we can help other cats.
In order for animal shelters to be able to save as many cats as possible, it’s up to us in the community to support them.
Best Friends Animal Society is a non-profit dedicated to achieving fully no-kill shelters by 2025. Here are some of their suggestions for helping our local animal shelters and saving more cats:
Make it a double: When adopting a new cat, consider bringing home two. Cats and kittens are very social and having a feline friend with them from the start can have behavioral benefits. Plus, that’s two lives saved instead of just one.
Fostering: Not ready to adopt? Fostering is a great option that provides an animal with the space and time to decompress, while acclimating to life in a home. It is also essential to no-kill since it provides animals a temporary home until they can be adopted. Many organizations offer also offer foster-to-adopt programs where individuals can see if a pet is right for their home before adopting.
Embrace community cats: Just like kittens, some cats simply live outdoors and do not need to be taken to local shelters. Instead, communities can participate in Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR)programs. As an essential step in achieving no-kill, TNVR is the most humane and cost-effective way to help curb cat populations through preventing unwanted litters from unowned cats.
Found kittens?: When kittens are found outside, the best option isn’t always to bring them to a shelter, especially when many are at or over capacity. Instead, check-in on the kittens for 10-12 hours to see if their mom is still present. If she is, leave them until they are about 2 months old when it’s safe to trap the mother and kittens so they can be spayed, neutered, and returned back to their outdoor home.
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters by 2025.
Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to around 378,000.
Best Friends runs lifesaving programs across the country, as well as the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary.
Working collaboratively with a network of more than 4,300 animal welfare and shelter partners, and community members nationwide, Best Friends is working to Save Them All®. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.