Best Friends Animal Society needs help on International Cat Day

SALT LAKE CITY — On Tuesday, International Cat Day, Best Friends Animal Society is overwhelmed with over 100 cats and kittens at its Lifesaving Center in Sugar House. The group is calling on the community for help and has a few tips for rescuers interested.

Best Friends Animal Society is a Utah-born nonprofit that opened a no-kill sanctuary over 35 years ago. A group of best friends settled in southern Utah to begin their mission to end the killing of cats and dogs in America’s shelters. They are now a leading animal welfare organization with a mission to pursue a completely no-kill America. Over 3.5 million animals were rescued in 2022 and three states were completely no-kill thanks to Best Friends and local shelter efforts.

The organization has conducted studies yielding data that says cats and kittens are historically the most at risk to be killed in shelters. More than 569 cats are killed in U.S. shelters.

“Saving the lives of cats in animal shelters is the responsibility of everyone in every community,” Best Friends said.

‘MAKE IT A DOUBLE’

Best Friends says that bringing home more than one cat when adopting can be beneficial for cat behavior because they’re such social animals and do well in pairs. It’s a sort of “killing two birds with one stone”, except it’s the no-kill version. Another benefit to this, the society says, is it’s “double the cuteness.”

CONSIDER FOSTERING

If you’re considering adopting, but aren’t sure how your other pets or children might handle a kitten, fostering is a great option. There are specific organizations that Best Friends works with that offer “foster-to-adopt” programs for this particular scenario. Fostering also helps the society’s efforts by giving homeless animals a home to stay in while they wait to be adopted instead of a kennel that’s much less comfortable.

EMBRACE COMMUNITY CATS

Some cats don’t need to be taken to local shelters and can instead live outdoors. Instead of taking them in to be adopted, cats found outdoors that seem comfortable can participate in Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) programs.

“TNVR is the most humane and cost-effective way to help curb cat populations through preventing unwanted litters from unowned cats,” Best Friends said.

MONITOR FOUND KITTENS

If kittens are found outside not in immediate danger (on the side of a busy road), Best Friends recommends that the kittens be monitored for 10-12 hours to see if their mom is still present. If she returns to them, leave them until they’re about two months old when it’s safe to trap the mother and kittens to participate in a TNVR program.

Best Friends Animal Society is looking for volunteers, fosters and adopters to help save the lives of their overflowing Sugar House location and encourages anyone nearby to help in whatever way possible.