Alley Cat Allies

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Alley Cat Allies (incorporated on October 6, 1991) is a nonprofit advocacy organization whose stated mission is to transform and develop communities to protect and improve the lives of cats. The organization advocates for reform of public policies and institutions to better serve the interests of cats. The group, based in Bethesda, Maryland, is best known as the group that introduced trap-neuter-return to the United States

Alley Cat Allies' emphasis is on stray and feral cat advocacy and provides information on Trap-Neuter-Return, the method of managing feral cat populations that the organization considers humane and effective. The organization helps communities, individuals and grassroots groups launch or improve Trap-Neuter-Return programs and expand affordable spay and neuter services. The group also educates the public about the number of cats killed in animal shelters and works to reform the shelter system to better serve the needs of feral cats.

Video Alley Cat Allies

Founding

Alley Cat Allies was founded in 1990, by Becky Robinson and Louise Holton after they discovered an alley with 56 cats and two smaller colonies in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.. They neutered the cats using the trap-neuter-return method. Deluged by requests for help with similar work, and aware of the lack of resources and information on the method, they formed a network for feral cats.

Robinson serves as the organization's president, running the organization with Chief Operating Officer Charlene Pedrolie, and Vice President and Board Chair Donna Wilcox. Holton left the organization in 2001, to form Alley Cat Rescue.

Maps Alley Cat Allies

Selected history

• Baltimore Trap-Neuter-Return Ordinance - When animal control policies in Baltimore prevented residents from carrying out Trap-Neuter-Return in 2007, Alley Cat Allies educated the city council about Trap-Neuter-Return and helped draft a new ordinance that allowed residents to feed and provide shelter for managed feral cat colonies.
• Hurricane Katrina response - In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Alley Cat Allies established a base camp and emergency shelter in Louisiana and sent 150 volunteers to help hundreds of cats displaced by the hurricane. In 2008, Alley Cat Allies received the Goodwill Key to the City of New Orleans in recognition of their work to save the Gulf region's animals after Hurricane Katrina.
• DC CAT - In 2004, Alley Cat Allies created the DC CAT Trap-Neuter-Return pilot program, which neutered nearly 1,400 cats in Washington, DC. Two years later, DC's animal control organization, the Washington Humane Society, embraced Trap-Neuter-Return as its feral cat policy and together with Alley Cat Allies opened the first high-volume spay/neuter clinic in Washington, DC, in 2007.
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard - In 2000, Alley Cat Allies halted a catch and kill order at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, and instead instituted a Trap-Neuter-Return program, becoming the first animal protection group in the nation to hold a formal contract with the U.S. military.

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Programs and projects

Alley Cat Allies created National Feral Cat Day in 2001 and promotes it every October 16. The day is marked with events such as spay/neuter clinics and workshops. In 2009, Alley Cat Allies celebrated National Feral Cat Day on the CBS Early Show, where weatherman Dave Price joined Alley Cat Allies' "I'm An Alley Cat Ally" campaign. In 2017, the organization changed the name of the event to Global Cat Day.

In 2000, Alley Cat Allies formed a coalition to stop a municipal order to catch and kill cats living on and under Atlantic City's boardwalk. With the city's cooperation, Alley Cat Allies staff and local volunteers began a Trap-Neuter-Return program for the boardwalk cats. The program celebrated its 10th anniversary in June 2010.

Alley Cat Allies' Feral Friends Network connects individuals to organizations, veterinarians, and others serving as resources on feral cats and TNR from around the world. Links to other online communities are also provided.

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Research and publications

• Trap-Neuter-Return Ordinances and Policies in the United States: The Future of Animal Control - In 2013, the organization published a Law and Policy Brief reviewing the treatment of feral cats in ordinances throughout the U.S. The study found that at least 240 local governments had enacted ordinances or policies supporting TNR (p. 4), a ten-fold increase from ten years earlier (p. 11).
• Scientific study of neuter status of U.S. pet cats - In 2009, Alley Cat Allies published Population Characteristics and Neuter Status of Cats Living in Households in the United States in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "Findings suggested that a high percentage (80.0%) of cats living in households in the United States were neutered and that annual family income was the strongest predictor of whether cats in the household were neutered."
• U.S. Public Opinion on Humane Treatment of Stray Cats - In 2007, Alley Cat Allies published a Law and Policy Brief interpreting the results of a nationally representative survey conducted by Harris Interactive and funded by Alley Cat Allies. The survey found that 81% of Americans consider it more humane to leave a cat outside where the cat is, rather than have the cat caught and "put down."
• Key Scientific Studies on Trap-Neuter-Return - Alley Cat Allies published a fact sheet describing a number of studies that suggest TNR is the humane and effective approach for managing feral cats. A more updated version of the analysis is available on the organization's website.
• Feral Cat Health Analysis: Living Healthy Lives Outdoors - A review of scientific research presented by the organization rebuts the views often espoused by other groups that feral cats live short and painful lives. Alley Cat Allies states that feral cats are healthy and become healthier when aided by trap-neuter-return; and they do not pose a health risk to other cats or communities.

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See also

• Trap-neuter-return
• No Kill Equation
• No-kill shelter

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References

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External links

• Official website

Source of article : Wikipedia