About Us

What We Do

We work hands-on with the cats

At Neighborhood Cats, our expertise comes from working with the cats - we're on the ground in New York City, Jersey City and Maui. We've trapped thousands of cats, fed colonies, cared for injured and ill cats, partnered with spay/neuter clinics and open admission shelters, organized and led large-scale TNR efforts and helped launch return-to-field programs. Every webinar we've presented, book we've written, piece of equipment we've designed or bit of advice we've given is based on our own direct experience.

We innovate

Neighborhood Cats originated what are now common practices in the Trap-Neuter-Return field. Mass trapping - the TNR of an entire colony at once - was made popular by methods we pioneered for handling large numbers of feral cats. Targeting high need areas to achieve high spay/neuter rates was advanced through our work and advocacy. We co-designed the first commercially available drop trap as well as what is now the most popular regular box trap for cats. Cat Stats, an online colony database, was created by us and is in use in communities throughout North America. We are always looking for better ways to get things done, and then finding them and sharing them with the field.

We teach

Passing along what we learn to others is a critical part of our mission and has allowed us to have a strong influence in the animal welfare field. Neighborhood Cats partners with the Community Cats Podcast to present TNR certification workshops and advanced trainings throughout the year to a global audience, in addition to other live and online presentations we give. We authored the Neighborhood Cats TNR Handbook and co-authored The Return-to-Field Handbook. Our website is a library of instructional material, receiving thousands of visitors a week.

We respond

In August, 2023, a wildfire destroyed the town of Lahaina, leaving hundreds of cats who survived the blaze on their own in the decimated burn zone. After a request from Maui Humane Society, Neighborhood Cats coordinated the rescue of over 600 cats over a span of six months. In the process, we developed a program to care for the cats in the disaster area, then trapping and removing them as space allowed at the shelter. This prevented overcrowding and illness and resulted in a 95% live placement rate for the rescued cats. In 2025, we organized a five-hour online presentation so others in similar circumstances will have a road map for what to do.

We grow

Our influence is now international as we support and provide guidance for community cat programs in Australia, Indonesia and Kenya. We've learned to adapt to the different cultures and unique challenges presented in each country, whether it's anti-cat laws in Queensland or resource demands in Mombasa. The result - the humane management of community cats through sterilization is growing rapidly in each jurisdiction.

​We succeed

New York City, Jersey City and Maui were all very rough places with high cat euthanasia rates when we first got involved. Now, like many communities which have followed our lead in implementing TNR, the vast majority of cats entering these shelters are no longer dying. Instead, live release rates are high as efforts to accomplish even more persist. Because of Neighborhood Cats and our many dedicated partners, animal welfare has greatly advanced when it comes to valuing and preserving the lives of our cats.

Are you running a TNR program, responding to a disaster, trapping on your own, caring for a colony or concerned about cats in your community? Reach out to us at info@neighborhoodcats.org.