How are we different?

Although we are proud to partner with many animal shelters/welfare organizations, FFF is not a shelter. Shelters focus on adoption/finding homes for pets. They provide valuable services to the community. Yet, despite their years of hard work, our local shelters have almost always been full, with a waiting list for taking in more cats. There is simply not enough room in our local shelters or adoptive homes for our cats in need. And, while sheltering is an essential component of animal welfare, it’s expensive and resource-intensive.

Unlike an animal shelter, we go to the cats. Our team of volunteers works out in the country and in towns and neighborhoods to provide our Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) services. We see how outdoor cats struggle without our help: males injured from fighting, females carrying and nursing litter after litter, young kittens sick and dying from preventable illnesses. We also have witnessed the efforts of the caretakers of these cats. For too many years, farmers have cared for the unspayed/unneutered cats (and their litters) dumped on their doorsteps. Other caretakers, many of them elderly or on tight budgets, have been buying food and providing shelter. Without the support of FFF, these farmers and caretakers would still be facing these challenges alone.

Our team of dedicated volunteers uses targeted TNR of outdoor cats, including barn cats and street cats. TNR is an efficient and cost-effective method for stabilizing and ultimately reducing outdoor cat populations and for improving the overall health of the cats. The cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and then returned to their original environment. Dedicated caregivers provide regular food for these cats and FFF follows up to ensure any new cats are also neutered and vaccinated. Once the cats are returned, they stop having unwanted litters. And they also become better neighbors. Neutering helps stop the annoying behaviors of yowling, fighting, and spraying.

But it’s not just people and cats that benefit: stabilizing and ultimately reducing these populations also reduces predation on wild birds.