In this season of love, giving, and community, we at Alley Cat Allies are endlessly grateful for our supporters, who help us protect cats and kittens like the community members they are!
When we say Cats Are CommunityTM, it is a powerful statement of these global truths: cats have lived alongside us for thousands of years, have a rightful place in our communities, and are beings with inherent value who deserve to live free of cruelty and deadly, misguided policies.
What makes a community one that truly protects cats like community? Here are the building blocks—city and county funding for critical resources like Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), low-cost spay and neuter, and cat food banks; strong laws to fight cruelty and defend cats whether they live outdoors or indoors; and active community members advocating for cats.
Alley Cat Allies works on the ground, in court, and through our comprehensive online resources to bring these key policies and programs worldwide. Your generosity and compassion help us do it all! And when we achieve a brighter tomorrow for cats together, it will be something for which we can all truly be thankful.
Right now, we celebrate and give thanks for the victories of today. Because you stand with Alley Cat Allies…
Community cats in Puerto Rico are not being removed and killed right now. The United States National Park Service (NPS), which announced intention to eradicate cats from the San Juan National Historic Site late last year, planned to start ripping cats from their outdoor homes as early as October 1, 2024.
Alley Cat Allies’ legal efforts and refusal to back down forced the NPS to agree to halt all movement on its cruel plan until a federal court decision in 2025. Cats like Bella, Mufasina, and Llorin are still eating, sleeping, and playing amid the surf-swept rocks of their outdoor home because of our action (including our historic federal lawsuit)—and our supporters like you who made it possible.
Together, we are sending a clear message: Harmful action against cats will not stand unchallenged, no matter who carries it out.
Cats in Ohio are now officially protected under companion animal cruelty law. In a unanimous decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled this month that Ohio’s companion animal cruelty law (R.C. 959.131) protects ALL cats and dogs as “companion animals.” Alley Cat Allies filed an amicus brief in this case, which helped inform the Court’s decision.
This is a huge step forward! In the simplest terms, we helped the Ohio Supreme Court decide that the law protects both owned and unowned cats equally, and that animal cruelty against community cats is not lesser than cruelty against an owned cat. This will affect the outcome of cruelty cases across Ohio and ensure justice is truly served.
Our victory in Ohio is just one of many lifesaving legal wins for cats and their caregivers this year!
Advocates and caregivers can access care and resources for cats. Just yesterday, we launched our new Alley Cat Allies Community Resource Tool to help advocates like you protect the cats who are your community.
With a few clicks, you can find resources for cats in your area including low-cost spay and neuter clinics, cat food banks, and more.
This is how advocates find each other, communities connect, and cats’ lives are saved.
Cats across the United States and beyond are enjoying a meal this Thanksgiving. Just one Alley Cat Allies supported community cat food bank in Atlantic County, New Jersey, feeds around 600 cats per day! And that’s just one part of an initiative through which thousands more cats and kittens receive low-cost spay and neuter, TNR, and other needed veterinary care each quarter.
Cats continue to receive care in hurricane-impacted communities. Alley Cat Allies’ rapid response in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton kept lifesaving resources for cats running with emergency generators, restocked supplies lost to flooding (including critical medications for cats), supported emergency treatments and surgeries for affected cats and kittens, and provided cat food resources for caregivers who may not have otherwise been able to afford them post-disaster. Cats like Padme, Halo, and Toffee were provided with lifesaving care and returned to their outdoor homes safe and sound.
And all of that is just within the last season!
What You Can Do to Help Cats on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is about celebrating family and community, and there’s no better time to remember that Cats Are Community and family members to many of us across the globe. More than that, we have the power to protect cats as we should all members of our communities.
So take some time to talk to your community about cats. Tell your family at the Thanksgiving table about TNR. Celebrate the cats in your life, and learn how to best care for them. Talk to your local leaders about humane programs that save cats’ lives rather than put them at risk. Share the Truth about Cats and set the record straight when disinformation threatens cats’ lives.
Your voice and your generosity and compassion make a lifesaving difference, and even the smallest act can help change a community, a country, and the world. If there’s anything we can all be thankful for, it’s that. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Alley Cat Allies!
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Your generosity today will save cats and kittens throughout this holiday season and beyond. Please consider making an early Giving Tuesday gift.