The Community Cat Challenge
The number of cats killed in shelters decreased by 72.5% in 2024, compared to 2016, driven in large part by successful lifesaving programs for cats, like changing policies around intake of community cats and TNVR. These results make it clear that implementing RTF/SNR and TNVR programming is the best choice for communities to save more cat lives.
The Community Cats Challenge was a unique opportunity for shelters to increase their cat lifesaving through implementation or expansion of SNR/RTF, or by ending trap and kill practices and implementing TNVR. This challenge ran from July 1-31, 2025, and was offered to selected shelters based on their data and programming.
Nine shelters from across the country completed participation in the Community Cat Challenge. By implementing and expanding their community cat programs, our participating shelters collectively reduced shelter deaths by 90 cats — a 48% improvement in cat lifesaving compared to the same period last year.
Let’s save more cats, together.
How did they do it?
Explore the resources, materials, and new operations that challenge participants implemented to achieve these remarkable results. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or ready to implement some proven strategies to save cats’ lives, we’ve got the tools to help you make an impact in your community.
Resources & materials:
- Community Cat Creative Materials & Templates
- Community Cat Challenge Press Release Template
- Communicating About Cats: Research Underscores Need to Use Broadly Understood Language
- Community Cat Programs Training Playbook
- Community Cat Programs: Public Policy and Legal Considerations
- Community Cat Complaint Mitigation Webinar
- Expanding Shelter-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return Eligibility for Cats Webinar
- Determining Eligibility for Cats in RTF and TNR Programs Webinar
What they did:
- During the Community Cat Challenge, participating organizations:
- Decreased the killing of healthy cats in July 2025 compared to July 2024 through either implementation or expansion of return-to-field (RTF) or shelter-neuter-return (SNR); or ending trap-and-kill practices and implementing TNVR.
- Shared stories about their community cat efforts, and shared community education posts in both English and Spanish.
- Return-to-field (RTF) or shelter-neuter-return (SNR) can look slightly different from community to community, but it is when healthy free-roaming cats who lack identification and enter a shelter are evaluated for eligibility, sterilized, vaccinated, ear-tipped, and returned to the location where they were found.
- In trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) programs, community cats are humanely trapped, evaluated and sterilized, vaccinated against rabies and distemper, and then returned to their original habitat.
Congratulations to our grant recipients!
Organization with the greatest year-over-year decrease in cat killing:
- Glen Rose Animal Control
Organizations recognized for outstanding contributions:
- Casper Metro Animal Services
- Greensburg Decatur County Animal Shelter
Participating organization grant recipients:
- Alleghany Humane Society
- City of Alvarado Animal Control
- Harrison County Animal Control
- Lewis-Upshur Animal Control Facility
- Pulaski County Animal Control
- Regional Animal Shelter of King William County
Sponsored by:
