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SAFE Haven For Cats Raleigh NC Advocacy Education Adoption Raleigh Cat Shelter

About Our Shelter SAFE Haven For Cats

We're glad you stopped by to learn more about our Raleigh, NC shelter for cats including:

Ivy in our cageless playroom

 
Our Mission
SAFE Haven for Cats' mission is to maintain a nonprofit, no-kill shelter for stray and abandoned cats and kittens. The shelter's main goals are:

  • Bring attention to and alleviate the suffering of stray cats in our community.
  • Educate the public about pet overpopulation and promote sterilization.
  • Find permanent, loving, safe homes for these animals.

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History of SHFC
Founded in 1994, SAFE Haven For Cats got its start in a heated and air-conditioned converted two-car garage, where it remained for five years. Joining a growing national movement, SAFE Haven For Cats opened the first permanent, no-kill animal shelter in the Triangle on Oct. 9, 1999.

SAFE Haven is supported by many volunteers in our community. At least 60 people per week volunteer for one of 12 shifts to make sure the cats are clean, socialized and well cared for.

SHFC VolunteersFrom adopting 52 cats and kittens in the first year to rescuing and adopting 451 in 2007, we have always provided the very best food, medical care and social environment for the felines in our care.

In 2003, the shelter was moved into an expanded facility that enabled us to increase the number of cats and kittens rescued, expand our low cost spay and neuter clinic and vastly enrich each cat's environment.

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SHFC Shelter Statistics
Since 1994, SAFE Haven For Cats has rescued and adopted over 3,500 cats and kittens:

Interesting Shelter Facts and Stats

  • 55% were male, 45% were female
  • 28% were a year or older in age
  • 72% were under a year old
  • More Stats...

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Our Philosophy

SAFE Haven For Cats is the original no-kill shelter in the Triangle and the only one exclusively for cats and kittens. Our shelter was founded on the following:

  • We believe every cat has value and deserves a chance for a permanent home.
  • SHFC is a limited-access shelter; as one cat or kitten is adopted, another is rescued. While waiting for a space, cats are placed on a waiting list and are cared for by foster families. The average length of stay for a cat at the shelter is 4.5 weeks.
  • We are a no-kill shelter and only euthanize cats that are too ill or injured to recover. That's it. Unless a cat can't recover we consider it adoptable and will work hard to find a home for it and always do! If euthanasia is necessary it is by lethal injection only.
  • We are committed through our own low cost spay and neuter clinic to sterilizing as many feral (through Trap/Neuter/Release) as well as stray cats and personal pets in our community as we can.

Cats are treated like personal pets

  • All cats adopted from SAFE HAVEN are sterilized prior to adoption and can never reproduce.
  • We treat the cats in our shelter and make decisions for them the same way we do our own personal pets at home.
  • No time limits are imposed on the process of restoring a cat or kitten to well being.

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SHFC Board of Directors
President
 Shalea Rhodes
Past President
 Sherri Orner
Vice President
 
Sherry Johnson
Founder

 Doug Eader
Treasurer

 Shalea Rhodes
Secretary
 Kathy Burnet
Medical Director
 Betsy Ulrich Pethick DVM
Executive Director
 Pam Miller, Founder

Board Members
 WRay Templeton
 Donna Parkinson
 Angela Giordano
 Sherry Essig
 Olga Wagner

Advisory Board
 Bambi Berger
 Linda Stephens
 Jackie Brown
 Tara Smithwick

SHFC Mission Statement
To maintain a nonprofit, no-kill shelter for stray and abandoned cats and kittens; to bring attention to and alleviate the suffering of stray cats in our community; to educate the public about pet overpopulation and promote sterilization; to find permanent, loving, safe homes for these animals.