Group Seeks More Volunteers After Seeing Boom In Cat Population

NORTH BABYLON, NY — A North Babylon cat rescue is seeing an increase in the need for foster families after seeing a boom in cats in need of homes over the past year due to the pandemic.

In 2020, Tender Loving Cats, a non-profit, no-kill kitten and cat rescue run entirely by volunteers, saw more families stepping up to foster kittens and friendly adult cats which led to many more furry friends coming into the adoption program from the streets and finding homes.

Now in 2021, the need for foster families is still ongoing.

"During ‘kitten season’ which runs April through October, Tender Loving Cats and other rescues get more requests for kitten placement than can be handled," Marge Goldin, a volunteer for the organization said. "But the number of kittens that can be saved is limited only by the number of fosters available."

The group manages all the medical needs of the cats and once they are old enough and socialized, they use social media to find them forever homes. No cat or kitten is adopted before they are spayed or neutered, microchipped, and up to date on vaccinations.

Tender Loving Cats is always in need of volunteers to assist in working 2-hour shifts in the two adoption centers that the organization runs out of two PetSmart locations in North Babylon and West Babylon.

"This past year has been especially challenging, as the number of homeless cats has risen, whether due to people losing their jobs and not being able to care for their cats anymore or moving to other locations and leaving their cats behind," Goldin said. "We are stretched to the limit, but we are determined to save as many cats as possible. We have a motto at Tender Loving Cats that we rescue the mistreated, save the injured and love the abandoned and we try to do just that."

Recently, as part of a widespread initiative trying to manage the cat population at Hofstra University, local student Claudia Cannam took on the responsibility to foster a kitten born missing its back legs. She is now currently looking into getting the kitten a prosthesis.

Tender Loving Cats also has a Trap-Neuter-Return program that targets the feral cat explosion on Long Island.

For more information on how to volunteer, visit tenderlovingcats.org.