Grant of $210,000 will extend efforts to save animal lives in counties surrounding Louisville, KY

Louisville, Ky. – May 30, 2018 – Alley Cat Advocates of Louisville, Kentucky has been awarded a $210,000 grant by Best Friends Animal Society, the Joanie Bernard Foundation, and Target Zero. Supported by Target Zero under its “Fellow Community” program, the grants will be used for Alley Cat Advocates’ regional live-saving efforts in neighboring communities.

Alley Cat Advocates is a nonprofit organization serving Louisville and the surrounding counties. Using a humane Trap-Neuter-Return program, Alley Cat Advocates has altered over 40,000 stray cats in the region since beginning in 1999. Since 2011 alone, these efforts have contributed to a 63% reduction in the intake of cats at Louisville Metro Animal Services, dramatically reducing taxpayer cost, overcrowded conditions, and animal euthanasia.

Investments and support from these three organizations will help Alley Cat Advocates provide staffing and financial support to five neighboring county shelters:

  • Bullitt County (KY) Animal Shelter
  • Hardin County (KY) Animal Shelter
  • JB Ogle Animal Shelter (IN)
  • New Albany – Floyd County (IN) Animal Shelter
  • Oldham County (KY) Animal Control

They will provide life-changing programmatic support to shelter staff and will promote current best practices in animal sheltering and management in targeted counties.

“Our organization has had the advantage of tremendous support from our community and, as a result, we have been able to work with national partners to develop and solidify best practices for community cats for nonprofit groups as well as municipal shelters. It is time we share these best practices with our neighbors and we are excited to bring additional life-saving to our region. We’re honored to receive these generous grants and to be recognized for our success and the progress we have made in Louisville, Kentucky,” said Karen Little, the organization’s co-founder and executive director.

For more information, visit Alley Cat Advocates, Best Friends Animal Society, The Joanie Bernard Foundation, or Target Zero.

ABOUT ALLEY CAT ADVOCATES
Alley Cat Advocates is a 501(c)3 organization that relies on grant funding and donations to offer spay/neuter services for cat caretakers in the community. Alley Cat Advocates’ mission is to provide for the humane treatment of unowned cats in our community by directing a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program in the safest, most efficient, and most cost effective way possible. Alley Cat Advocates schedules 175 spay/neuter appointments each week. The group will spay/neuter over 4,000 community cats this year and has altered over 40,000 stray cats in our community since they began their work in 1999. For more information or to schedule a spay/neuter for a community cat, call 502-634-8777 or visit alleycatadvocates.org.

ABOUT BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 2,200 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from 17 million per year to about 1.5 million. That means there are still more than 4,100 dogs and cats killed every day in shelters, just because they don’t have safe places to call home. We are determined to get that number to zero by the year 2025. Working collaboratively with shelters, rescue groups, other organizations and you, we will end the killing and Save Them All. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.

ABOUT THE JOANIE BERNARD FOUNDATION
The Joanie Bernard Foundation supports groups, organizations and projects that advance the vision of life and love for every cat. They do so by providing spay and neuter education, funding humane shelters, and aiding in the care of feral cat communities.

ABOUT TARGET ZERO
Target Zero is a national non-profit organization. Its mission is to help communities achieve a 90% or greater live-release rate for all dogs and cats entering their animal shelters. They do so by working with communities to build strategic roadmaps with a focus on current best practices. They provide both online and onsite shelter consultation services, and ongoing mentorship through their fellowship program.

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS
Download high resolution photos by visiting our website. You have our permission to download and use these photos.These cats have been spayed or neutered and vaccinated through our Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. You’ll also notice that they are ear-tipped, the universal sign of a spayed or neutered and vaccinated community cat.

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