Organizations can play a huge role in the lives of community cats

Whether you are a large shelter, a private nonprofit, a municipal agency or a small volunteer rescue, there are ways to help your area’s outdoor cats, whether they are community cats (feral and stray) or cats whose owners allow them outside.

Those in the animal welfare community have a duty to these animals. And it is only by caring for and managing community cats that we can make progress in reducing the cat overpopulation problem that has such a great impact on the work of anyone concerned with cat welfare.

Find funding to help cats

Often your good work is hampered by a lack of money. Visit HumanePro for information on groups that offer financial assistance as well as a collection of articles 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. The HSUS can teach you how to recruit and retain volunteers.

Learn—and perhaps improve—the laws about cats

The number of organizations devoted to helping community (feral and stray) 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. Managing Community Cats: A Guide for Municipal Leaders is available for free. Published in 2015 and endorsed by the International City/County Management Association, this guide is designed to help communities find long-lasting, nonlethal solutions to conflicts involving community (feral and stray) 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 cats@humanesociety.org.

If you're ready to do some research on your own, start here:

Educate the community about cat care

Reach out to cat owners. An important source of community cats is the population of unsterilized owned cats who are allowed outside. You can help reduce the number of cats who roam outdoors by providing educational material to adopters and community members, about the benefits of keeping their cats indoors and the importance of spaying and neutering and the need to put collars and visible ID on their cats. (Read more about the care essentials for owned cats.)

Spread the word about Trap-Neuter-Return to cat caretakers. People with big hearts often provide food to community cats. Unfortunately, they may not realize the importance of spaying and neutering. They may not even know that there's anyone who can help them. You can tell them about TNR and help them find organizations that can assist them.

The HSUS has information in English and Spanish that you can distribute to the media and at events, libraries, veterinary clinics, feed stores, pet supply stores, etc. If you want to grab people’s attention, our "i am not a crazy cat lady" flyer is sure to be noticed!

If you find that you’re preaching to the choir and having difficulty reaching those who haven’t already been clued in about the issue, The HSUS can help you change your tactics. Our Pets for Life program is focused on spreading the humane message to underserved communities. Our Pets for Life Toolkit will show you how to become a great force for change in your community!

Build a library of outdoor cat resources

Need to dig deeper and widen your scope? Try these:

If you need more resources, contact us at cats@humanesociety.org.