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Helping New York City's Feral & Stray Cats Our Mission The New York City Feral Cat Initiative is a joint program of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and Neighborhood Cats, two private non-profit organizations. Our mission is to solve the feral cat overpopulation crisis in New York City through the humane, non-lethal method of Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR for short. The Problem: Too Many Cats Living on the Streets Tens of thousands of street cats live in the alleyways, backyards, and outdoor spaces of New York City. They are the offspring of lost or abandoned pet cats and, unneutered, they go on to spawn new generations. The cats group themselves together in packs called colonies. Many of their nuisance behaviors can be attributed to mating behaviors that would likely cease if they were sterilized. These behaviors include noise from fighting and mating, and the smell from the spraying of pheromone-laced urine. Because these cats are not socialized to humans, they are not candidates for adoption. The breeding of these street cats results in more kittens entering the shelters — taking away homes that would otherwise go to the adult cats already there. Most adult feral cats taken in at city shelters are euthanized (killed) because they are not adoptable as house pets. As a result, the city must shoulder higher costs for municipal animal control. The Solution: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Our New York City Feral Cat Database shows that in neighborhoods throughout New York City, TNR is proving effective in humanly managing feral cat colonies and reducing their numbers over time. TNR is a two-step approach to feral cat overpopulation: Stray and feral (wild) cats are humanely trapped, evaluated, given a rabies vaccination, left eartipped, and spayed or neutered (sterilized) by a veterinarian, and then returned to the familiar habitat of their original colony. Tame (friendly) cats and kittens young enough to be socialized are removed for adoption placement in permanent indoor homes. Step Two: Ongoing Feral Cat Colony Management Volunteers called colony caretakers provide ongoing care of the cats, including daily food, water, and clean-up of the area, shelter, and monitoring of the cats' health. This ongoing surveillance ensures that any new cats that find their way into the colony will be removed if they are tame, or TNRed (rabies vaccinated, left eartipped, and sterilized) if they are feral. This allows the number of cats in the colony to diminish over time through natural attrition, as cats get old and die from natural causes. How the NYC Feral Cat Initiative is Helping What We Do: The NYC Feral Cat Initiative program provides TNR Caretaker Training Workshops in all five boroughs, hands-on assistance at TNR projects in all boroughs, TNR equipment loans, advice to the public by phone and e-mail, educational events, and information via our e-newsletter, web site, and printed materials. Also, the NYC Feral Cat Initiative hosts the NYC Feral Cat Council, an alliance of organizations that work directly with feral cats and TNR in New York City. What We Do NOT Do:
Learn More! Browse this web site to learn more about NYC Feral Cat Initiative services, read information on feral cats and TNR, learn about volunteer opportunities, register your feral cat colony in our online database, or make a donation to support this valuable work for NYC felines! The NYC Feral Cat Initiative is a joint program of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and Neighborhood Cats, two private non-profit organizations committed to solving New York City's feral cat overpopulation crisis through the humane, non-lethal method of Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR for short. The NYC Feral Cat Initiative program provides TNR Caretaker Training Workshops in all five boroughs; hands-on assistance at TNR projects in all boroughs; free TNR equipment loans; public advice by phone and e-mail; feline educational events and information via our e-newsletter, web site, and printed materials. In addition, the NYC Feral Cat Initiative hosts the NYC Feral Cat Council, an alliance of organizations that work directly with feral cats and TNR in New York City. Information on TNR & Feral Cat Care Learn about resources available to help street cats in New York City, including free and low-cost feral cat spay/neuter services, proper care of a feral cat colony, winter shelters, bottle-feeding orphaned kittens, socializing feral kittens, community relations, and adoption options for found tame (friendly) cats and socialized kittens. In addition, print out a variety of helpful documents, including our NYC Feral Cat Initiative brochure, TNR Project Preparation List, and Cat Poisoning Reward Poster in English, Spanish, or Russian. NYC Eartips, the e-newsletter of the New York City Feral Cat Initiative, will debut during Summer 2008. Subscribe now and you won't miss an issue! When subscribing, you can also opt to receive Out of the Cage!, the e-newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Picasso Veterinary Fund in Action!, and other occasional notices from the Mayor's Alliance. Read how TNR is making an impact on communities in the New York City area. See what feral cat workshops, classes, public information sessions, fundraisers, and other events are on the calendar. Are you managing a colony of feral cats in New York City and performing TNR? Then you should register your colony today in the New York City Feral Cat Database. All information entered is confidential and you will be eligible for free cat food giveaways and raffles! The database was launched in 2006 to gather statistical data on feral cat colonies in New York City. Today, the database has hundreds of feral cat colonies registered. The data collected shows that, on average, those colonies show a substantial decline in size! Learn how you can help the street cats in your neighborhood by attending a TNR Caretaker Training Workshop, by becoming a TNR Coach and sharing your experience with others, by fostering a cat or kitten until a permanent home can be found, or by socializing a litter of feral kittens. Your generous donation will directly assist the NYC Feral Cat Initiative in accomplishing its mission to humanely address feral cat overpopulation through the non-lethal method of TNR. You can choose to make a one-time donation or become a Feline Friend by signing up for automatic monthly donations. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), feral cats, and the NYC Feral Cat Initiative.
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NYC Feral Cat Initiative • c/o Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals • 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite R290 • New York, NY 10001 • (212) 330-0033 • info@NYCFeralCat.org |
