Our Story

Alley Cat Allies, Inc. (ACA) was founded in 1990 and incorporated in Delaware in 1991. For eight years, ACA functioned as a volunteer organization with only a post office box address. In 1998, we opened an office in Washington, DC, and today employ a staff of 20 who work on feral cat programs and issues nationwide. Alley Cat Allies is registered as a 501(c)(3) with the IRS.

In 1990, the great majority of shelters and animal control agencies either ignored feral cats or practiced removal and “euthanasia,” They knew nothing about nonlethal methods to control and reduce feral cat colonies. Alley Cat Allies was created to be a national resource center providing assistance, guidelines, and educational materials on nonlethal feline population control.

The method Alley Cat Allies advocates throughout North America is known as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), first used in Denmark, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. TNR is the preferred method in these countries for feral cat population control. TNR is a nonlethal approach to feral cat population control. Feral means "gone wild" - either a cat has reverted to the wild state after being lost or abandoned or is born and has no human contact for the first few weeks of life, the offspring of stray or abandoned domestic cats. TNR is a comprehensive management plan where all healthy feral cats are sterilized and vaccinated, and then returned to their habitat and provided with long-term care. Adoptable (tame) cats and kittens are placed into homes.

For over fifteen years, Alley Cat Allies has helped thousands of individuals improve the lives of tens of thousands of stray and feral cats and kittens and has motivated and assisted hundreds of grassroots activists to found feral cat groups in their communities. Many of these small organizations have expanded to become models for other cities. In addition, veterinarians, wildlife biologists, humane organizations, animal control agencies and animal shelters frequently request information and guidance from Alley Cat Allies to develop programs and policies for nonlethal control of felines.

Feral Friends Network

Alley Cat Allies’ Feral Friends Network (FFN), “the backbone of ACA,” is a database connecting individuals who want to help feral cats with veterinarians who treat feral cats and experienced caregivers who share their knowledge and experience. ACA started the FFN in 1991 with Washington, DC, feral cat caregivers and five organizations around the country. Today, the FFN has 1,400 members (individuals and organizations) in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 5 Canadian provinces, and 11 other countries.

Techniques and expertise

In 1990, affordable spay/neuter for feral cats didn’t exist in Washington, DC. ACA volunteers took cats to private veterinarians, but found prices too high and schedules too rigid to accommodate feral cat colonies. They also encountered little knowledge of how to handle wild animals and vets who frequently were unsympathetic to their efforts.

One visionary veterinarian, Dr. Darby Thornburgh, agreed to conduct bi-monthly low-cost spay/neuter clinics and was soon sterilizing more than 100 feral cats monthly. By assisting Dr. Thornburgh and conducting further research, ACA staff acquired knowledge of high volume spay/neuter techniques and requirements for operating a spay/neuter clinic.

In October 1998, ACA opened the only no-cost spay/neuter clinic for feral cats in the DC metropolitan area. This clinic, which operates one day each month, treated 715 cats in 2002 alone.

Conferences

Each year, ACA staff members present information on Trap-Neuter-Return to several national and international conferences for veterinarians, animal control officers, shelter directors, colony caregivers, and activists, thereby making TNR a vital component of animal protection.

Communications and resources

ACA produces wide-ranging publications and other communications on the humane care of feral cats, including:

• Factsheets, white papers, information packets, brochures, conference handouts, and how-to guides.
• Two award-winning newsletters, Alley Cat Action (quarterly) and Feral Cat Activist (semi-annual).
• www.alleycat.org
• Training and public policy videos: Trap-Neuter-Return: A Humane Approach to Feral Cat Care and The Humane Solution: Reducing Feral Cat Populations with Trap-Neuter-Return.
• FeralPower! listserve, to inform Feral Friends and other activists about timely actions needed for specific ACA campaigns.
• Special interest listserves, e.g., CampusFerals, to provide students, faculty, and concerned community members with means to communicate TNR information on campuses.

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