Bringing People & Pets Together for the Benefit of Both

How to tell if a cat is feral:
 - Silent except mating calls and hisses
 - Only seen at dawn and dusk to hunt
​ - Will eat food only after humans have retreated a distance
 - Can never be touched or held
​ - If cornered will hiss, spit and fight hard
 - Looks clean and healthy (feral cats are better at surviving in the wild)
​ - Intact or neutered, could be ear tipped as part of TNR
 - No collar or microchip

How to tell if a cat is abandoned or lost:

 - Meows
​ - Seen at all times of day and night
 - Will eat food with humans standing within six foot
​ - May be touched, held or approached within limitations
 - If cornered will try to hide 
 - Will usually only fight if pushed to defend itself
​ - Looks dirty and unwell
 - Intact or neutered
 - Might have collar or microchip

Community Cats

Free-roaming community cats are usually the product of human abandonment or unaltered pets breeding to produce offspring - exponentially.

Richland Animal Rescue often receives calls from home owners and other caring people who find themselves in situations where cats were dropped off as "throw aways" on their property. Subsequently,  it is not long before kittens, kittens, and more kittens are noticed...as the animals quickly reproduce.

There are many opinions about how to best manage or control cats outdoors. Keeping cats indoors is best for the cats and native wildlife populations (competition, disease, and predation), but for those wanting to humanely maintain and responsibly manage an outdoor cat or cat colony, Richland Animal Rescue can help you with a humane trap/spay/neuter/return (TNR) program - if the owner of the property is willing to fully cooperate and participate in properly managing and monitoring their colony.

Proper colony management includes stabilizing the population to a non-reproductive state - establishing a manageable number by humanely live trapping all adults/older kittens and altering them (spay all females and neuter all males) so they no longer reproduce. Humanely catching and removing all kittens, as young as possible (under 6 weeks of age), to socialize them so they can be adopted to good homes through our rescue program.  Any additions to the colony or property at a later date must be handled in the same timely manner to maintain control and naturally reduce colony size by attrition (outdoor cats have significantly reduced survival rates than cats who live indoors).

See TNR educational video here. See how to help cats survive Winter here.

Live traps are available for loan with deposit.  Please contact us for more details. 

We have both friendly and independent sterilized and vaccinated cats available for adoption through our Barn Buddies Program.

Note:  Richland Animal Rescue only accepts kittens from "owners" who are willing to be a part of the solution and spay and neuter all cats within their possession - whether or not  it was by choice in having the cats on their property.  It is the most cost effective option and provides help to those who take responsibility to help themselves with a effective humane and permanent solution.