What are animal shelters doing to protect wildlife from cats?

Cat Shelter — Photo by Eric Kayne/AP Images for the HSUS

There are many things animal shelters, rescue groups and animal control agencies do to keep local wildlife safe from cats. Shelters may not even think of these actions as being helpful to wildlife, yet it is important to note the value in this work for a broad range of species.

Here are some things local organizations may do to help both cats and wildlife:

require adopters to keep cats indoors as part of adoption contract (or outdoors with supervision or in enclosure)
provide adopters and the public information on reducing cat-wildlife conflict, keeping cats indoors, and/or safe outdoor cat enclosures (catios)
spay or neuter all cats prior to adoption (excluding those exempted due to a medical condition)
keep stray kittens under a certain age for adoption rather than returning them to their outdoor homes
accept or require returns of adopted cats that the adopters can no longer care for, offering an alternative to that cat being abandoned outdoors
offer cat behavior counseling to help keep cats in their homes and keep cats indoors
offer free or low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to the public
conduct community outreach to help keep cats in their homes and provide resources, especially in under-served areas
offer no-fee or waived fee surrenders for those of limited means
provide free or low-cost ID tags for cats
offer free or low-cost microchips for cats
provide assistance to the public for reuniting and/or rehoming friendly stray cats
avoid returning community to critical wildlife habitat
offer a barn cat or relocation program for those cats which takes into consideration wildlife impact when choosing relocation sites
have a “cats inside” educational effort
manage trap-neuter-return programs to reduce the overall outdoor cat population