Today marks the fourth anniversary of opening our cage-free Adoption Center here in Oakland. This space has has made a significant impact for Oakland’s vulnerable shelter cats.
To commemorate the occasion, we’re highlighting four things we’re proud to have accomplished since our Adoption Center doors first opened on October 25th, 2014.
Forgotten Kitten Project
Our goal in opening our Adoption Center was to give overlooked cats a comfortable space to be themselves and meet potential adopters — but in doing so, we received an unexpected education in socialization. When we started bringing frightened older shelter kittens to our cage-free space, we saw them learning from their more confident peers and building trust through play with humans. It happened time and time again, like magic, and thus our Forgotten Kitten Project was born.
Now, with help from Maddie’s Fund, we’re documenting our process so that we can share our findings with other rescue groups and ensure no older shelter kitten is deemed “unadoptable”.
Apprenticeship program
With the success of our Forgotten Kitten Project, and our dedication to helping “hard-to-place” sick, senior, and stressed cats find loving homes, we’ve become a national leading force in new rescue practices. Through the Maddie’s Fund apprenticeship program we’ve welcomed more than 30 rescue professionals from across the nation to learn how to implement our practices in their own shelters and rescues, taking our mission nationwide.
Adoption Center Studios
Last summer we expanded our Adoption Center – the Studios at Cat Town — doubling the size of our Adoption Center. With 12 individual rooms, the Studios give cats facing the greatest barriers to adoption a chance to recover from shelter stress and meet potential adopters. Our Studios have made it possible to help more cats than ever before, whether they’re facing illness, healing from injury, or just learning how to be around people.
The Numbers
After opening in 2014, we saw an incredible uptick in the number of cats being adopted per year. The same was true after opening our Studios. Our Adoption Center now receives more than 10,000 visitors annually, and our adoption rates have more than tripled since we first started as a foster program in 2011. Just a couple months ago, we celebrated helping our 2000th cat, a milestone achieved largely due to our supportive community.
There is so much more to come for Cat Town. If you’d like support our organization, please consider volunteering or becoming a monthly donor. Every dollar makes a difference in the life of a vulnerable shelter cat.
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