Brooklyn cats, rescuers and shelters are in trouble.
Thousands of cats are fighting to survive outdoors - many newborn kittens don’t make it past their first few months.
Rescue groups are completely overwhelmed with help requests and huge medical bills.
City shelters have been overflowing for decades, and NYC pet surrenders increased by 25% in 2022.
But those are just symptoms.
OUR VISION: No Cats On the Street. No Cats In Shelters.
Flatbush Cats exists to solve the cat overpopulation crisis in Brooklyn - and beyond.
We began as a small volunteer-led TNR and rescue group. But after rescuing hundreds of friendly strays and kittens who all needed medical care…and after helping our neighbors TNR hundreds of feral cats on the same blocks…we noticed that new cats still kept showing up, year after year. There’s a bigger problem here.
WE’RE GETTING TO THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM.
We built a new high volume spay neuter clinic (Flatbush Vet) to serve both low-income cat owners and rescue/TNR volunteers across Brooklyn. Now we’ll be able to provide 7,500+ annual spay neuter surgeries, systematically addressing the root of the cat overpopulation crisis.
By increasing access to veterinary care, we can also:
Get cats off the street - Rescuers and TNR volunteers need spay/neuter appointments in order to rescue outdoor cats
Keep cats out of shelters - As cat owners can access spay/neuter services, fewer unwanted kittens will be born.
Bring more equity to animal welfare - We all love our pets, and we all deserve the love and companionship they offer. By bringing accessible veterinary care to Brooklyn pet owners and rescue volunteers, you can save thousands of lives - for years to come.
SPONSORS
GS Humane Corp
The Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Foundation
The Irving and Phyllis Millstein Foundation for Animal Welfare
LEADERSHIP
Board of Directors:
Elizabeth Carena (President)
Xinyan He
Divya Anantharaman
Ricky Da Costa
Eric Haze
Patrick Sandefur
Leadership includes:
Will Zweigart, Executive Director
Dr. Oliver Small, Medical Director
Maxwell Branch, Director of Community Programs
Leslie Lewis, Lead Licensed Veterinary Technician
Ryan Tarpey, Community Outreach Specialist
Financials
“Flatbush Cats has a highly organized and efficient process for serving thousands of cats each year. If they were able to expand their program even further, the benefit to NYC cats would be immeasurable.”
