Cat Zip Alliance/Campus Cats

I am one of the non-profit's founders (received 501c3 status in 2007) and the original mission was to TNR and care for the community cats on the University of Georgia property and remove any tame cats and kittens for adoption. As the only TNR group in the area we soon were asked to help beyond campus and our mission is now summed up as: "Cat Zip Alliance/Campus Cats is an all-volunteer group with no paid employees, so you know your donations go directly to covering vet care, food, and supplies. Our broad mission is to promote humane and effective community cat management through our Trap-Neuter-Return-Monitor (TNR), barn cat, and adoption programs in order to keep community cats out of animal control facilities. On a smaller scale, we care for the community cats that live on and adjacent to University of Georgia property every day. On a larger scale, we loan out traps, conduct TNR workshops & trapping training sessions, and provide the resources someone might need in order to manage community cats in their own backyards or place of business, serving Athens Clarke County and surrounding counties in mid- and NE Georgia." My personal interest in this endeavor is as a professional wildlife biologist/ornithologist with many years of inventory and monitoring experience. I am a strong advocate for the humane and proven technique of TNR as the best solution we currently have for reducing community cat populations and subsequently reducing conflicts with wildlife but, believe just as strongly that there needs to be standard protocols established for TNR.

We ask that potential adopters fill out a questionnaire asking about their situation, what they are looking for in a cat, existing pets, former pets etc. If they sound like a good match then we arrange a meeting at the foster home. We require adopters to bring a cat carrier in case they decide to take the cat/kitten that day. In GA we can do a foster to adopt agreement for kittens not yet spayed so they sign that agreement and we continue to pay for the kitten's vet care up through the spay/neuter at one of our vets, but if the cat/kitten is already fixed they sign a regular adoption agreement. We do not have a set adoption fee and ask for a donation of the adopter's choice. We start kitten vaccines at 6 weeks, and repeat at 9 weeks, then rabies/neuter/final FVRCP/microchip at 12 weeks, but adopters can adopt at 8 weeks.