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After the success in zip code 40215, Alley Cat Advocates turned its attention to the Louisville Metro Council. We wanted to improve a portion of the city’s animal ordinances, the portion that required that all cats be owned, licensed, vaccinated and remain on the owner’s property. The ordinance required cats who were not in compliance to be rounded up, taken to Metro Animal Services, and euthanized if inside homes were not found, which was typically the reality. Using legislative models from other communities, Executive Director Karen Little worked closely with Metro Council members to develop [...]

Ted M. Routt has been an Alley Cat Advocates volunteer for 3 ½ years. He joined the team after retiring so that he could stay active and engaged post retirement. Ted has helped with office work and trap distribution and has even managed to stay involved during the pandemic by completing volunteer tasks at home. Ted shares his home with his wife and son and two sister cats.

Volunteer Spotlight: Carrie Rose Carrie Rose is a rock star volunteer! Carrie has been volunteering for almost a year now. She started with cat recovery, but decided that she needed something a little less physical. She now prepares the surgical packs and other items for surgery days. Carrie enjoys her work and loves learning about surgery. Carrie is a retiree and grandmother of 3, who loves to spend time hiking and enjoying the outdoors. Carrie Rose

Volunteer Spotlight: Charlene Schneider Charlene Schneider volunteered with Alley Cat Advocates for about six years. While she hasn't been able to volunteer recently, she very much enjoyed her time helping with surgical recovery and post-surgery clean up. Charlene’s favorite part of volunteering was “being a part of providing a better life for community cats.” She also enjoyed all of the fellow cat loving friends that she made along the way. Charlene shares her home with four wonderful house cats. We appreciate Charlene and hope that she is able to return to volunteer again soon!

Volunteer Spotlight: Molly Mershon Molly Mershon has been a champion for community cats for over 15 years. She began to volunteer with Alley Cat Advocates after getting help with trap-neuter-return for cats she was feeding. Molly and her husband, Matt, have been faithful supporters and have ran the annual fundraiser, The Cat’s Meow for 15 years. Molly enjoys working with other volunteers and feels good knowing that she is supporting a great organization that is saving unowned cats in the community. Molly and her husband are retired and while they love to travel, recently they [...]

JoAnna Overstreet has volunteered with Alley Cat Advocates for about 3 years. She especially enjoys Caretaker Caturdays, when cat caretakers pick up and return traps. JoAnna found out about volunteer opportunities at Alley Cat Advocates through friends, but her favorite part is knowing the great impact that trap-neuter-return has on the lives of cats in the community. JoAnna is retired and enjoys life with her husband, child and grandchild. JoAnna relaxes with word puzzles or sudoku in her spare time.

Give your valentine the gift that lasts a life-time for a community cat. Select the gift option that best fits your budget and include your special someone's contact information. They will receive a personalized card to share your very special gift given in their honor. It is the purrfect gift for any cat lover.

This is Jimbo. Jimbo looks a bit worse for wear. It isn't unusual to see unneutered male cats sporting battle scars from fighting. Fortunately, his old wounds have healed and now that he has been neutered he shouldn't pick up too many new ones. Unfortunately, his mouth is another story. Broken teeth and infection need to be addressed before he returns home. Can you help Jimbo get his dental work? Please donate now!

Alley Cat Advocates is celebrating 22 years of life saving work this month. Also, this month marks one year of providing these services all under one roof at the Community Cat Complex. To celebrate this amazing milestone, all gifts made to Alley Cat Advocates in the month of February will be MATCHED!

Alley Cat Advocates has received grants totaling $55,000 from the  American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as part of their initiative to provide funds to those animal welfare organizations severely impacted by the COVD-19 crisis.  The funding received will fund low and no cost spay/neuter surgeries for community cats. The funds will also help provide medical care to those cats who come in for surgery who are sick or injured.  During these challenging times, is it especially gratifying to have the ASPCA's generous assistance. Relief &Recovery Grant Press Release - Alley Cat [...]

Lori Marshall enjoys serving her community through the great work we do at Alley Cat Advocates. As an Alley Cat Advocates volunteer, Lori has connected with community members and caretakers. Her upbeat personality is perfect for greeting visitors and answering questions or concerns. Lori finds real satisfaction in seeing all of the cats that we are able to help. Aside from loving cats, Lori’s hobbies include refurbishing furniture. We are thankful to have dedicated volunteers like Lori. 

In 2020 3,677 cats were spayed or neutered at the Community Cat Complex. That is definitely something to celebrate. We moved into the Community Cat Complex in February and did no spay or neuters in January 2020. Then a global pandemic caused shut downs, staff furloughs and an abbreviated surgery schedule. Through all of the challenges and growing pains Alley Cat Advocates continues to make a difference every day.

If you shop at Kroger please consider supporting Alley Cat Advocates through their community rewards program. All you have to do, is visit www.kroger.com/communityrewards, and select Alley Cat Advocates (QL501). Then every time you shop and use your card, Kroger donates to Alley Cat Advocates. The last quarter shows that we have 999 supporters and just under $5,000 in rewards. Will you be the 1,000th supporter and get us over $5,000 each quarter in rewards? It is an easy way to make a big difference! Sign up today!

Fancy Nancey's caretakers reported that his tail just hung behind him like he couldn't move or raise it. At first, it was difficult to find any injuries, but an x-ray revealed a fracture in his spine. The fracture is above the tail, but by amputating most of his tail, the pressure and weight have been removed and the fracture can heal. Fancy Nancey is now able to move his nub and seems to be pain free. Donations are needed to provide extra care like x-rays and additional surgery and hospital care. Please donate to provide [...]

The goal of the Petsmart Charities grant was to spay/neuter 2000 cats in a single targeted Louisville zip code, 40215. The intake of cats from this neighborhood was the highest in Jefferson County, a statistic attributed to both the socio-economic demographics of the area and to its proximity to the Metro Animal Services campus. After spaying/neutering only 800 cats in this zip code, the intake numbers at Metro Animal Services decreased by 51%! Metro Council member Marianne Butler, who represented 40215, also saw a decrease in the calls, complaints, and cat-related issues in her district. [...]

Meet Teresa Kruse. Teresa has been a volunteer at Alley Cat Advocates for several months. Teresa consistently volunteers every week and her help is especially valuable to the veterinary team. Teresa does an amazing job at helping prepare supplies, surgical packs and laundry. Teresa, along with several others, make sure that everything we need to do the surgeries each week is prepared. Teresa enjoys working alone with her earbuds in while she folds laundry just as much as she enjoys the team atmosphere of the office work crew. A retired Flight Attendant, Teresa considers herself [...]

   Luke Rollins joined the Alley Cat Advocates team of volunteers at the beginning of 2020. He was seeking a volunteer opportunity that would allow him to build his resume, but he has found a community of cat lovers and a mission that he supports. Luke has tried several areas of volunteer work, including recovery and check-in, but found he really enjoys discharge and transcribing. He is able to use his skills in coding to help him transcribe the many calls that Alley Cat Advocates receives. Luke also hopes to continue to learn and is [...]

Many volunteers learn about Alley Cat Advocates because they are caretakers. After they experience the program for themselves they are excited to join the team. Some, like Sandra Kunzler, Caretaker turned volunteer, Sandra Kunzler, knows all about what it takes to care for community cats. Sandra once managed multiple colonies consisting of over 30 cats total. She worked to trap, transport, feed and provide medical care for 13 years. She even picked up extra work at one time, just to make sure that the cats were all cared for. She is currently down to 7 [...]

When they brought him in for a neuter, Mr. Pink's caretakers didn't know why he seemed to squint and rub on his left eye. Upon examination, our team quickly diagnosed him with entropion. This condition is where the eyelid actually rolls inward allowing the hair around the eye to irritate the surface of the eye and over time it can cause infections, damage and even vision loss. It can also be very painful. Surgery is required to repair the eyelid and the cost can range from about $1,000 to $2,000 on average. Fortunately, our surgical [...]

Alley Cat Advocates is excited to announce that the Bernice Barbour Foundation has awarded the organization a grant of $15,000. These funds will go to support the spaying and neutering of cats in Jefferson County. “Recognizing the need to humanely reduce the community cat population through spay and neuter efforts and by supporting our efforts where the need is greatest, the Bernice Barbour Foundation once again demonstrates their ability, as their mission statement makes clear, to make the lives of animals happier and healthier,” says Executive Director Karen Little. Alley Cat Advocates extends their thanks [...]

Alley Cat Advocates was founded in 1999.  Karen and Hoyt spent a year creating a strong infrastructure for the organization and the first surgery was performed in October, 2000. During the first month of operation, the group performed twelve surgeries.  Karen and Hoyt managed the group from their home, fielding four or five phone calls each week. Slowly, the program began to expand. In 2005, they realized that many of the cats who had been spayed or neutered, ear-tipped and vaccinated through the Alley Cat Advocates program were being picked up and euthanized by Metro [...]

Chrissie Lowe has been a faithful volunteer at Alley Cat Advocates since July 2019. Chrissie loves meeting the caretakers at check-in and discharge. It makes her really happy to see that the cats have homes with loving caretakers. It also means that she isn’t tempted to adopt too many cats! Chrissie came to Alley Cat Advocates because she loves cats and wanted to volunteer. She has found that she loves helping the cats and their caretakers. Chrissie currently has two awesome cats. She works full time as a plant controller (accountant) for a printing company. [...]

Kathy Hall and Henry C. Hall, the rescue kitty Kathy Hall has been volunteering with Alley Cat Advocates for about 10 years. In that time, she has helped at the Big Fix and she currently helps with “office work,” which consist of anything and everything that needs to be done around the Community Cat Complex. It all started when Kathy herself had a couple of community cats that needed to be fixed. She enjoys meeting people like herself who want to do whatever they can to help cats. Kathy still feeds one of [...]

Thank you so much to every one that came out and picked up a winter shelter to keep the community cats you feed warm this winter. We gave away 76 shelters stuffed with straw, and ready for community cats to enjoy. If you missed out we have some step by step instructions available to build your own shelter. Try this simple plan to build a winter shelter for your outdoor cats. It is simple, inexpensive, and your kitty will purr with delight. Visit our community cat center for easy ideas and instructions

It's been a challenging year for everyone, but we’re proud of the work our staff, supporters, caretakers, donors and others have done to keep us moving forward. To commemorate all that hard work, we’ve designated Nov. 15-21 Alley Cat Advocates Week! Usually, we would include an in-person gathering but of course, due to the pandemic, we won’t be able to do this year. Instead, we’re going to spend this week across social media letting you know about the supplies we need to continue our work. Consider it a “supplies drive” – and it’s an easy way to [...]