Volunteer News

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 [...]

Nola is the first cat that the Tharps cared for.Her tipped ear helped the family first learn about the Trap-Neuter-Return program. Alley Cat Advocates makes Louisville the safest city for community cats while bringing friends and families together. Although the Tharp family - Ronnie, Danna, Amber, and Dane- are new to the services Alley Cat Advocates provides, they are very familiar with the Fairdale community cat population. The family learned about the Trap-Neuter-Return program after adopting Nola - a stray, ear-tipped cat. Since then, they've had a wide variety of felines visit their [...]

Marley loves to interrupt Dewey's morning reading! After Dewey retired from teaching he was looking for volunteer activities to fill his time. After attending volunteer orientation in February of 2006, Dewey went to the Big Fix the next month. He said one of the most memorable things he learned at orientation was that a breeding pair of cats can produce thousands of offspring. That was a big motivator for him to get involved. For a number of years he helped out at the Big Fix on Sunday afternoons providing care for the cats - each trap had to [...]

Alley Cat Advocates Receives Funds to Help Citizens Grants totaling $3,900 will help citizens spay or neuter cats in their neighborhoods Louisville, KY – May 14, 2018 – Alley Cat Advocates of Louisville, Kentucky today announced the receipt of grants totaling $3,900 from Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Council’s Neighborhood Development Fund. The grant supports Alley Cat Advocates’ efforts to provide services to citizens of Jefferson County to help reduce the population of stray, free-roaming cat populations in their neighborhoods. Alley Cat Advocates, as a nonprofit organization serving Louisville and the surrounding counties, has altered over 40,000 [...]

Grant of $10,000 will extend efforts to save more animal lives in Louisville Metro Alley Cat Advocates has been awarded a $10,000 grant by the Petco Foundation to support the Alley Cat Advocates Trap-Neuter-Return program. Using a humane Trap-Neuter-Return program, Alley Cat Advocates has altered over 40,000 stray cats in our community since we began in 1999. Since 2011 alone, these efforts have contributed to a 63% reduction in the intake of cats at our local shelters, dramatically reducing taxpayer cost, overcrowded shelters, and animal euthanasia. The Petco Foundation investment will help Alley Cat Advocates [...]

Alley Cat Advocates has been fortunate to be on the forefront of developing and refining best practices for communities and their community cats. Founder Karen Little says, "One of the most rewarding results of our work, aside from improvements seen in our community as regards our stray cat population, is the opportunity to share our lessons learned with others." Karen will be on the road next weekend talking to animal welfare professionals at the Texas Unites for Animals Conference in Austin. Learn more about the conference at Texasunites.com.

Megan Cahill joined our volunteer team six years ago. She immediately knew this was the perfect organization for her. She felt at home from the day she attended volunteer orientation. Megan said, “With so many like-minded individuals, I knew this was the perfect place for me to volunteer.” Not to mention, Megan also knew she wouldn't end up adopting any more cats through Alley Cat Advocates. All of the cats who come to ACA already have loving caretakers. Megan is also a community cat caretaker and had used our services to get several of her [...]

Rachel Hodge's story began when she met Alley Cat Advocates' founder Karen Little. They worked together at the University of Louisville Music Library. Rachel had recently moved to a new home and she discovered a mama kitty with two small kittens. Rachel started caring for the family and got them fixed through Alley Cat Advocates! For years Rachel has been taking care of the mama and son, who visit her every morning and night. Both cats love the outdoors and appreciate Rachel's care. They even get along with Rachel's dog. Thank you Rachel for sharing [...]

Facebook has made some recent changes that may be making it harder for you to see our posts in your news feeds. If you enjoy following Alley Cat Advocates on Facebook, please make sure you "Like" our page and then click "Follow" to the right of like button. Like and Follow Us now ...    

Sheila Mead (left) and Chris Durham, volunteering in a local neighborhood with our Education and Community Outreach Team As we head into Volunteer Appreciation Week next week, Alley Cat Advocates is proud to spotlight volunteer Sheila Mead. Shelia first learned about Alley Cat Advocates through an advertisement in the Courier Journal five years ago. Since then, she has contributed her time, energy and contagious enthusiasm in a number of ways, including: administrative office work, trap distribution, fundraising support through the Development Team, involvement with the Education & Community Outreach Team, and most importantly, [...]

Karen Little, co-founder and executive director of Alley Cat Advocates, accepted a grant from Signarama Downtown. This gift will help Alley Cat Advocates with our signage needs. Thank you, Signarama! Together, we will make our community the safest city in the country to be a community cat!        

Josh Kitterman lives in Indiana and works as a welder. He currently takes care of nineteen cats, and has been their sole caretaker for four years ... caring, feeding and fixing the cats. Josh feeds them once in the morning and once at night. His hungry cats go through eighty pounds of cat food every two weeks. The cats live in an old camper that he cleared out for them to sleep in at night. He has insulated the camper to keep the cats warm in the winter months. Josh learned about Alley Cat Advocates [...]

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Alley Cat Advocates in the Frankfort Avenue Easter Parade! It was a beautiful spring day. We loved meeting so many neighbors who lined the avenue to enjoy the day and festivities. See you again next year!      

In 2011, Chris Dennison was standing at her window when she saw a stray cat painfully limping across the yard. "Having indoor cats myself, I felt a tug of compassion to help the injured cat," Chris said. Grabbing cat food in an attempt to help the cat, Chris walked outside and approached the hurt stray. But even in pain the cat ran away. Chris started leaving food outside every day. The cat would come back and eat as long as Chris was out of sight. "But one day, as I peeked out the window to [...]

During the month of April, photographer Kas Deddnes will be selling her beautiful photographs at Highland Coffee. Kas is donating 10% of her profits on all sales, and 100% of her proceeds from the kitten photo, to Alley Cats Advocates! Visit Highland Coffee, located at 1140 Bardstown Rd, Louisville, KY 40204, to see the exhibit and shop to benefit community cats.

Join Alley Cat Advocates ay HappyTail Hour. Metro Animal Services will host HappyTail Hour, in conjunction with Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront. This “pet inclusive” cocktail party will take place Monday, April 30, from 5 – 9 pm at Waterfront Park with entertainment. Visit https://discover.kdf.org/happytail-hour/ for more details ...

Shop for spring in the Alley Cat Advocates store! Use promo code SpringSale at checkout to save 30% on all of your purchases. All proceeds are used to provide spay or neuter and life-saving veterinary care for community cats in our area. Shop now ...

Kitten season is here! Meet one of the sweeties from the first batch of the season for us. This 4-week old fellow was hanging out with volunteers who were feeding him and keeping him warm and happy while mom had her life-changing spay surgery last Tuesday. Yeah mom and her litter of 4 adorable babies! Call Alley Cat Advocates today at (502) 634-8777 to schedule an appointment for your outdoor community cats!

Our founder and executive director, Karen Little, has been nominated as Today's Woman "Most Admired Woman of 2018!" We're so proud of Karen. She has set a vision and worked tirelessly to change the lives of over 40,000 stray cats - reducing over-population and euthanasia in our local shelters by 63% and creating a national model for humane care of community cats using Trap-Neuter-Return. Please support Alley Cat Advocates and vote for Karen. This exposure will help us to raise awareness of Alley Cat Advocates, reach more caretakers, volunteers and donors. Please vote once per [...]

Jude is a local outdoor cat who was born with a unusual eye condition like the rest of his family. These cats are missing their internal eyelids that help keep out dust and debris as well as keep the eyes moist. This condition causes the eyes to become irritated, dry, and damage the eyes over time. This trooper is already scheduled for his first procedures the 9th but we need your help to provide all the care he will need. Jude is receiving cryotherapy, which will freeze the hairs around the eye that are irritating [...]

Alley Cat Advocates recently welcomed Lily Carothers, Madison Haller, Hallie Huff, Katy Kline, Rhiannon Langel, and Brianna Vitt to our intern team. All students at the University of Louisville majoring in Marketing, these young professionals have chosen to spend their semester helping the cats. They will be sharing information with our supporters via newsletter, web and social media. Lily is a senior marketing major at the University of Louisville. When she is not at school she enjoys playing her violin and drinking a lot of coffee! She is a long time cat enthusiast and even [...]

Look for Alley Cat Advocates in the 26th annual Frankfort Avenue Easter Parade! Volunteers will be pouncing from Stilz to Pope Street beginning at approximately 11:30am. Celebrate the return of spring as you watch antique cars, the Mounted Sheriff's Posse, Mayor Fischer, the Easter Bunny, and the Alley Cat Advocates crew float down Frankfort Avenue. All the excitement happens on Saturday, March 31st. If you see us, say "meow!"    

Today we celebrate our 19th anniversary. Thanks to caretakers, volunteers and donors, Alley Cat Advocates has been working to empty our local shelters and make Louisville the safest city in the country for community cats since 1999. Alley Cat Advocates is a local non-profit organization. We provide spay and neuter services for 5,000 stray cats in the Metro Louisville area each year. This focused work in our community is changing the numbers, changing the culture, and emptying the cages in Louisville's animal shelters. Did you know that community cats are the biggest contributor to animal [...]

You're invited! 502 Power Yoga is hosting a $5 Karma Class to benefit Alley Cat Advocates on Sunday, March 11, 4 - 5:15pm. Register to join Baely Talley for a 75-minute Power Vinyasa flow! The room is heated to 90 degrees for a Karma Class. Be prepared to sweat, smile, and feel great after flowing for community cats! When: Sunday, March 11, 4 - 5:15pm Where: 502 Power Yoga 200 Missouri Avenue Jeffersonville, Indiana 47130 Cost: $5 donation - cash, check, charge Register: Please register in advance!    

Congratulations to our partners at Louisville Metro Animal Services! Alley Cat Advocates works daily with the LMAS team to find the best outcomes for cats in our community. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer recently announced that through hard work and new ideas, LMAS has achieved no-kill status for time and space! For the first time in its 52-year history, no shelter pets were euthanized due to time or space at LMAS. "Our city value of compassion absolutely extends to the animals that enrich our lives," Mayor Fischer said. "That's why I'm so proud that Metro Animal [...]