ABOUT OUR SHELTER

SAFE Haven is a limited-access shelter with the capacity for caring for 60-90 cats at one time. As one cat or kitten is adopted, another is rescued. Below is additional information about our our purpose and history as a no-kill animal shelter:

• Our Mission
• Our History
• Our Philosophy

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:

ADOPTION
Find permanent, loving, safe homes for these animals.

EDUCATION
Educate the public about pet overpopulation and promote sterilization. Bring attention to and alleviate the suffering of stray cats in our community.

STERILIZATION

Spay and neuter as many cats as possible in our community.

OUR HISTORY

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.

From adopting 52 cats and kittens in the first year to rescuing and adopting more than 4,000 to date, 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.

In 2009, the shelter expanded yet again to a new location offering 2,225 sq ft of space andwe are raising money this year to expand our SAFE Care spay neuter clinic in an effort to double the number of cats in the clinic to 3,500 per year. Donations like yours make saving more lives possible.

OUR PHILOSPHY

Raleigh NC

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/Return) as well as stray cats and personal pets in our community as we can.
  

• 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.