This holiday season, as we focus on what fills us most with gratitude in our lives, all of us at Alley Cat Allies have so much to be thankful for.
First and foremost, we’re thankful for our compassionate supporters like you who allow us to save cats and kittens every single day, and work alongside us as we build a world where all cats’ lives are valued and every community has policies and programs to protect them.
When Alley Cat Allies was founded in 1990, there was, honestly, little to be grateful for in how governments, shelters, and organizations in the United States approached cat “management.” Catching and killing community cats simply because they existed in their natural outdoor homes was the rule, not the exception.
But we formed around the light we knew was in the dark: the incredible, dynamic, fearless grassroots advocates doing the real, hands-on work to help cats in their communities. They were doing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) before they knew it had a name.
Alley Cat Allies crystallized and championed those lifesaving efforts and expanded them into a powerful movement that set a new standard for the protection of cats and kittens. Compassionate people rallied by our side—and many of those early supporters are still with us today, more than 33 years later (if you’re reading this, THANK YOU).
Today, though there is far more work to do and challenges to overcome, humane approaches like TNR are firmly mainstream thanks to Alley Cat Allies and our community of over 1 million advocates and supporters. Our movement and impact are ever-growing and global, and for that, we are endlessly thankful.
We’re thankful to be able to provide humane outreach, direct care, and lifesaving resources to cats and kittens across the United States and around the world. Today, on Thanksgiving…
Gatsby will have a warm and happy holiday with his adoptive family. We at Alley Cat Allies knew Gatsby as Copper; we named him after the gorgeous, rich color of his eyes—eyes that were still so bright and full of life even when he was a small, sick kitten in need of immediate veterinary attention. Alley Cat Allies ensured Copper could receive that critical treatment—as we have for thousands of cats in 2023 alone—and he blossomed under our care until he found a family to call his own. They keep in touch, and let us know that Gatsby is living his best life!
Miso and her kittens Bisque, Butternut, Chowder, Noodle, and Bouillon—and adopted kitten Minestrone—will continue to thrive together, healthy and content. Just weeks ago, Miso and her kittens began receiving much-needed veterinary care through Alley Cat Allies’ lifesaving grant to Oklahoma organization Tiny Paws Kitten Rescue; our second after a disaster relief grant in response to tornadoes earlier this year.
Then, in a twist of fate, tiny Minestrone was found alone without her mother cat and just so happened to be the same age as Miso’s kittens. Minestrone was introduced to Miso, who immediately took her in as her own! If this family’s adorable soup-related names made you think of food, know that…
Thousands of indoor and community cats in Iowa, New Jersey, the Cayman Islands, and beyond will enjoy a meal through Alley Cat Allies’ Keeping Families Together™ program. In just three days in October and November, Alley Cat Allies covered the costs of cat food that will feed more than 1,800 cats and kittens in the Des Moines, Iowa, area. That’s a lot of Thanksgiving dinners!
Those stories are just a few examples of our critical work this season, and we hope reading them inspires you and warms your heart. After all, we have YOU to thank for making them possible!
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 aunt and uncle 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.
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.