Cats Safe at Home Campaign

The Cats Safe At Home Campaign is a unique collaboration between Bird Alliance of Oregon, the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, Multnomah County Animal Services and the Bonnie L, Hayes Animal Shelter to humanely reduce the number of free-roaming cats on the landscape.

Predation by cats is estimated to be one of the top causes of bird mortality nationwide, second only to habitat loss and destruction, and is the number one cause of intake of injured and orphaned animals at our Wildlife Care Center. We work together to find solutions that are good for bird and good for cats. Our innovative and collaborative approaches to this challenge has drawn nationwide attention.

A tabby cat sits on a platform in a catio.
Cat lounging in its catio at our annual Portland Catio Tour, photo by Tara Lemezis

Things Are Different Here

Nationwide, the issue of how to address free roaming cats is highly contentious. Bird conservation groups and cat welfare organization have been locked in a decades old conflict that has resulted in extreme polarization and very little progress. Beginning more than two decades ago, Bird Alliance of Oregon and the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon chose to take a different approach, recognizing that people care about both wild birds and cats and sustainable long-term solutions would need to value the welfare of both birds and cats.

Our collaborative Cats Safe at Home Campaign focuses in four primary areas:
  1. Innovative Outreach efforts such as “Catio Tour” to promote responsible cat ownership
  2. Promotion of multifaceted approaches to addressing cat overpopulation
  3. Scientific Research to evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts to reduce the number of free roaming cats and promote responsible pet ownership.
  4. Advocacy for humane and ecologically responsible policies to address cat overpopulation.

How Can You Help