Officially Yours

We are official as a small business (LLC), and we have the funds to apply as a non-profit now.



Thank you!


We have provided food to caregivers of feral cat colonies, we are actively working on our Cat Cave program which provides winterized shelters for outdoor cat colonies, we've rescued many cats and kittens, and we've offered community education about cat welfare. (In addition to this blog, we've sent out press releases that resulted in local papers printing articles about cat safety and feral cat colonies.) We have also made arrangements to start a TNR program this December, and we are working to network with the existing animal welfare agencies in the SLV that are currently unable to work together.

Not bad for less than a month, eh?

Frequently Asked Questions About Helping Feral Cats

Stop the Killing

A quick one-minute video by Alley Cat Allies. Please watch.


In the recent past, towns in our valley have prohibited TNR programs from continuing their humane efforts, instead choosing to trap and kill feral colonies. If you've been following this blog lately, you know this isn't a true solution. Spread the word about TNR and its benefits and support the efforts of programs working to help feral cat populations.

The Truth About Feral Cat Colonies

Benefits of Feral Cat Colonies

• Feral cats can minimize rodent problems, keeping their populations in check and discouraging new rodents from moving into the area. Worried about the birds? Well, studies have shown that cats prey on rodents, insects, and reptiles far more than birds. Habitat loss and encroachment by humans is the primary threat to bird populations, and raccoons and opossums are the primary predators of nesting birds. Feral cats benefit the ecosystem more than harming it.
  
  
• People who help care for feral cat colonies can enjoy the same benefits as having a companion animal, such as extended life expectancy, lower blood pressure, and lower stress levels.
  
  
• Feral cat caretakers are often elderly and live alone, a population at risk for depression, loneliness, and isolation. Cats relieve these conditions and often bring a sense of happiness and purpose to people who help them.
  
  
• Individuals who cannot commit to the full-time commitment of adopting a companion animal can participate in programs to help feral cats.
  
  
• An established, stable, vaccinated, and sterilized colony of feral cats deters other stray and feral cats from moving into the area. This decreases the risk of humans and pets encountering unvaccinated cats, and will virtually eliminate problem behaviors like fighting and spraying.
  
  
• Feral cats can improve public health when the supervised colony is vaccinated against rabies. These vaccinated feral cats act as a buffer (safety barrier) between the wildlife who might carry rabies and the domestic neighborhood cats who have the most contact with humans.
  

Many towns in our valley attempt to remove feral cat colonies by trapping and killing them, but doing this simply reopens the territory to the other cats who will move in to repopulate the area. Simply put, killing feral cats doesn't get rid of the perceived "problem" of feral cats. Instead, it just perpetuates the problem while ending lives and costing more money than humane options!

Trap-neuter-release (TNR) programs--where feral cats are humanely trapped, altered, and released--have been shown to be the most effective method to deal with feral cat colonies. The American Veterinary Medical Association and many other animal welfare organizations support TNR programs over euthanasia because they WORK.

Support TNR programs and save lives!

Shelter Your Feral Cat Colony this Winter

Here in our valley, many feral cats freeze to death each winter, and the cities use this as a justification for their trap-and-kill programs each fall. If we can help shelter our feral colonies, then we can save lives. Simple shelters will keep cats warm and dry, which will prevent them from roaming or freezing to death. dry and warm and will prevent them from roaming. With this provision managed colonies can be very hardy in the wintertime. Here are some tips for building feral cat shelters that will become long-lasting safe havens for our four-legged friends:

• Use a strong box, crate, or doghouse as a shelter.
  
• Insulate the shelter with thick plastic or insulation scraps to keep out our strong winds and severe cold.
  
• Blankets and towels retain moisture, so use hay, straw, or synthetic insulating material those those used for camping or saddle covers.
  
• Leave a small opening just big enough for the cats to enter. Be sure to put the opening on a side of the shelter that's protected from the icy winds.
  
• Put the shelter on bricks or pallets to get it off the ground. This will keep the shelter warmer and keep it from rotting.
  

Cat Saga in Southern California

Have you heard about this?

For years over 130 feral cats have been living in the old buildings of the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. Volunteers with Fail-Safe 4 Felines have been caring for them, feeding them, microchipping them, and getting them fixed. In the past year only 2 litters were born, both of which were pulled out by volunteers and quickly adopted out. They're good!

However, now the Los Angeles County animal control officers are trapping the cats with the intent of clearing out the entire colony. They have no plans to relocate them, but rather to have them killed. Fortunately, the battle has been raging between the county and the cats for long enough that Fail-Safe 4 Felines has gotten many of the cats microchipped.

When shelter staff scans the cats and get the information from the microchips, they call Fail-Safe 4 Felines who comes and bails them out. This won't get all the cats, so volunteer are also watching the animal control traps and then bailing out cats once they get brought in. In addition, they are doing some trapping of their own and have saved over a dozen cats.

Fail-Safe 4 Felines is working hard to prevent the mass killing of this feral colony and we applaud them for their efforts. The rescued cats are all getting adopted or going to foster homes. Some will go as mousers to a vineyard, and the rescuers hope that more people will step up to help out.



To any Californians reading, please consider fostering or adoptiong some of these cats, and call your senators today and encourage them to replace trap-kill methods with trap-neuter-release.
Senator Boxer 213 894 5000
Senator Feinstein (310)914-7300