Alley Cat Advocates is pleased to announce another successful year in reducing the city’s unowned community cat population, according Karen Little, Executive Director of Alley Cat Advocates. This means they can target new neighborhoods that need help.
[box] Although the PetSmart Charities grant was designed to targeted specific zip codes, Alley Cat Advocates will help caretakers and community cats in ALL zip codes.[/box]
After the nonprofit group received a $75,000 grant from PetSmart Charities four years ago, Alley Cat Advocates first targeted zip code area 40215, which was identified by Louisville Metro Animal Services as having the highest number of community cats turned in to their facilities. “Over a two year period that zip code saw a 51% decrease in the number of community cats in their neighborhoods,” said Little.
Using a universally accepted method called Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), Alley Cat Advocates, neighborhood caretakers, and Metro Animal Services work in partnership to provide spay/neuter and excellent veterinary care and to reduce the numbers of community cats in our city. Over a two-year period, the number of community cats without owners from 40215 that were turned in to Metro Animal Services dropped from 1,120 to 550.
[box] The Alley Cat Advocates Neighborhood Program now serves these Louisville zip codes: 40208, 40209, 40213, 40214, 40215, 40216, 40217, 40219, 40258, and 40272.[/box]
Last year the program was expanded to include the 40208, 40214, 40215, 40258, and 40272 zip codes. Five new zip codes were added this year: 40209, 40213, 40216, 40217 and 40219.
Community cats which have been spayed or neutered are better neighbors, according to Karen. They stay closer to home and their caretakers. Behaviors like fighting, marking and spraying often disappear because those behaviors are related to mating and breeding, which results in too many kittens and overcrowded animal shelters is no longer an issue. TNR was approved by Metro City Council in 2012 as an accepted strategy to humanely control and care for our community cat population.
Although the PetSmart Charities grant was designed to targeted specific zip codes, Alley Cat Advocates will help caretakers and community cats in ALL zip codes.
[box]Caretakers who feed and care for unowned community cats in any zip code can call the Alley Cat Advocates hotline at 502-634-8777.[/box]
Caretakers who feed and care for unowned community cats in any zip code can call the Alley Cat Advocates hotline at 502-634-8777.