Support Community Cat programs in Riverside

Community cats (aka stray or free-roaming cats) risk losing their lives simply because they've made a home in the outdoors. In many cases, they are brought to local shelters, where they are unlikely to get adopted because many of them aren't socialized to people. Many of these cats are thriving living outdoors because someone in their community cares for them.

That's where community cat programs come in. These programs use trap-neuter-return (TNR) to save cats. The process is simple: Community cats are trapped, evaluated by veterinarians, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, ear-tipped, and returned to their outdoor homes, unable to have kittens.

Three years ago, in partnership with Best Friends, Riverside County Dept. Of Animal Services took on this approach by welcoming a community cat program at their Coachella Valley Animal Campus location. By early 2020, as many as 10,000 eligible cats were spayed and neutered through the program. The work continues today on a smaller scale due to physical and financial limitations brought on by the pandemic, leaving many community members and cats without this necessary resource.

You can help save the lives of community cats and support the people who care for them, by advocating for community cat programs and other lifesaving efforts to be implemented throughout Riverside County. Thank you for supporting community cats in your neighborhood, and for everything that you do for the animals!