Rethinking the Cat SymposiumAlley Cat Advocates earned “bragging rights” as a national model for success for reducing cat overpopulation and creating a safe city for community cats. Alley Cat Advocates Executive Director Karen Little spoke last month in Virginia at a regional symposium called “Rethinking the Cat,” sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

In her presentation, Karen shared the story of the truly remarkable and successful collaboration between local organizations and the community of people who have made Alley Cat Advocates a success story that other cities can model.

Attendees had a choice of attending sessions in two tracks:  care and adoption of pet cats in shelters and rescue groups, or managing community/stray cats and developing effective Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs. Topics included in this event were learning new strategies to boost adoptions, keeping cats in homes, reducing intake and length of stay in shelters, expanding the impact of Return to Field (Shelter-Neuter-Return), and running a successful Trap-Neuter-Return program.

Rethinking the Cat SymposiumKaren represented one of two community cat advocate groups that were invited to present at the Virginia event.

“Rethinking the Cat” symposia are a series of free, all-day trainings that HSUS is hosting this year. Each training agenda looks a bit different, based on the most important needs and hot topics for cats in the hosting states. Besides Virginia, five upcoming events will be held in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, New York and Washington state.

These symposia are free and open to the public. They attract hundreds of shelter workers, rescuers, volunteers, community cat advocates, animal control officers, and veterinarians across the United States. In additional to HSUS, the symposia series are also sponsored by PetSmart Charities and local SPCAs.

For more information: www.humanesociety.org. Click About Us to view events and conferences.