STRAY CATS

Raleigh, NC

Have you found a stray cat or just want to learn more about our services? Here is how SAFE Haven For Cats helps you and our community:

• If You Find A Stray
• How to Help A Stray
• Low-Cost Spay Neuter and TNR
• Returning Personal Pets Adopted from SAFE Haven
• Our Community Assistance and Support

IF YOU FIND A STRAY

You have found a stray cat .

First, let us say "thank you". SAFE Haven is appreciative of your concern for the safety and well being of stray cats. SAFE Haven wants to help - we offer a variety of services from consultation and referrals to our low-cost spay neuter services to placing the cat on our waiting list for participation in our adoption program.

Together we can be part of the solution. Everything you need to know to get started is listed below.

Program Requirements

Please find below our program requirements and information for getting almost immediate care for stray and feral cats through our low-cost Spay Neuter Clinic.

SAFE Haven is a limited-access shelter; therefore one cat or kitten has to be adopted, before another is rescued. Because of this we often have a waiting list and it can be 2-3 months or longer.

Our shelter can accept cats for adoption ONLY if:

• You have found stray cat(s) or kitten(s) that are approachable and have a good chance of being adopted. A good measure of adoptability is whether you yourself would want to take this cat into your home and make a life-long commitment to it.  

• You have found young (6-10 weeks) kittens among feral cats.  

• You have placed free found ads in local newspapers and made efforts to find the owner of this stray.

PLEASE remember we usually have a waiting list for our adoption program. We are, however, able to help stray cats almost immediately through our low cost spay neuter program. If the stray you have found has been sterilized, vaccinated and is healthy, you would have a much better chance of finding it a home on your own. For strays that meet our program requirements, see the section below to learn how you can help a stray cat and how we can help you.

If any of the following apply:

Unfortunately, due to the volume of requests we receive, SAFE Haven does not have enough space at our shelter and is unable to place cats in our adoption program if any of the following apply:

• You have feral cats in your neighborhood or place of business. A feral cat is one that is mostly nocturnal, cannot be approached, touched, easily picked up and/or put in a carrier. They generally do not make good pets without foster care in a home for 6 months to years, if ever. The exceptions are young kittens. If caught early (6-10 weeks) they sometimes can be rehabilitated and adopted. If you have feral cats please fill out the Spay Neuter Request Form. We can help you help these cats right away with the loan of humane traps and low cost or free sterilization. Sterilizing these cats will help break the cycle of unwanted births and colony growth. We advocate a TNR approach for feral cats.  

• You live outside the 919 area code (the Triangle area). Please see www.petfinder.com for resources in your area. National rescue groups may be able to provide additional information or help.

• You are seeking to give up a personal pet. A personal pet is defined as one you have cared for six months or more regardless of how you acquired the cat. The exception is a cat previously adopted from SAFE Haven.

• You adopted/purchased your cat from another rescue group or breeder. Please contact them directly.   

• You have an abuse or neglect concern about an owned pet in your area. Please contact the appropriate Animal Control office.   

• You have found a cat that needs immediate medical attention. Please take it to an animal hospital. We do not provide any emergency or wellness care through our Spay Neuter Clinic.

HOW TO HELP A STRAY

Try to provide basic care for the cat. If you're able, move the cat to a secure location.

If the cat is friendly and tame, please place a FREE FOUND AD in one of the following newspapers:

• Raleigh News & Observer
  919-829-4500 | Website
• Durham Herald-Sun
  919-419-6910 | Website

Placing an ad immediately upon finding the cat will help to avoid heartbroken families in the event the cat is a lost pet.

Consider contacting a local veterinarian for a microchip scan. Many vets provide this service for free.

If the cat cannot be easily approached or picked-up, please complete our Spay Neuter Request Form as part of our Trap Neuter Return (TNR) program in coordination with our low cost spay neuter clinic.

We Want to Help

Unfortunately, due to the volume of stray cats and kittens we are currently experiencing and the current backlog on our waiting list, we regret that we are unable to accept any stray cats at this time. Please watch this area of our Website for updates to this status. The Community Links section of our Website provides links to other local and national rescue groups and resources for additional help. Also, almost immediate care is available to sterilize stray cats at our low-cost Spay Neuter Clinic.

LOW-COST SPAY NEUTER & TNR

Our SAFE Care Feline Spay Neuter Clinic is a permanent clinic housed at SHFC. Our clinic offers the following services:

• A Low Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic for stray and feral cats.

• We provide assistance to caretakers of feral colonies through trap loan and a TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) Program.

PERSONAL PETS ADOPTED FROM SHFC

Contact SAFE Haven Immediately

If you have adopted a cat from SAFE Haven For Cats at any time, we will gladly take it back into our program if you must give it up for any reason. Please do not abandon it, take it to a euthanizing shelter or put it on CraigsList, etc. Please contact us by e-mail or phone immediately and we will arrange for you to return the cat at your convenience.

Unfortunately, we cannot help if you are seeking to give up a personal pet that was not adopted from SAFE Haven. A personal pet is defined as one you have cared for six months or more regardless of how you acquired the cat. Please visit our Community Links page for resources.

OUR COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE

SAFE Haven For Cats serves the entire Triangle region of 1.2 million people including more than 3,500 square miles encompassing Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill. Cats rescued by SHFC are no longer roaming Triangle streets nor breeding, thus helping in a humane manner to alleviate animal control problems throughout the Triangle.

Our Benefits to the Triangle Community Include:

• More than 400 cats and kittens per year are rescued, sheltered, sterilized, rehabilitated and placed in permanent adoptive homes.

• Adopters are offered professional, individual assistance when matching a cat to their individual needs, children or other animals in the home. We are a resource for the life of the cat.

• We serve about 5,000 people per year in the Triangle.

• Help and support is provided to Citizens Who've Found a Stray and don't know what to do to help it.

• We provide volunteer opportunities for interested citizens who have a love of cats and want to make a great difference in the life of a stray.

• We provide educational handouts on a variety of cat-related topics from behavior problems to veterinary referrals.