More cats than dogs are strays on the street, with 27% for cats and 6% for dogs. Are you ready to save a cat and have them call your home a forever home? If so, check out the cat rescues in New Jersey listed below.
Why Do Cats End Up in Shelters?
Cats end up in shelters for many reasons. Family members in the household suffer from cat allergies to the felines soiling different areas throughout the home by urinating and defecating in areas other than their designated litter box.
Other reasons cats may go to a shelter include:
- The family moves to a new home arrangement that does not allow cats.
- Lack of funds for providing cat food and litter.
- The felines are not getting along with other people or animals in the house.
- A stranger finds a cat on the street and turns them into a shelter for safe housing.
- The owner drops off the feline at an animal sanctuary, but representatives cannot disclose to adopters why this happened.
The ASPCA reports that about 3.2 million cats are surrendered annually to shelters throughout the United States.
Of that amount, about 530,000 felines have to be euthanized every year to make room at shelters for new cats and dogs that have a higher chance of being adopted.
Unfortunately, black cats have the most difficult time being adopted because of the superstition people have that they cause bad luck.
One study on adoption and euthanasia statistics for black cats at urban shelters concluded that black cats have an adoption rate of 10.6% and a euthanasia rate of 74.6%.
The Top 9 Cat Rescues in New Jersey
Just because a prior home arrangement did not work out for a cat does not mean that all hope is lost.
Local cat rescues in New Jersey have banded together as a team to take in unwanted cats from prior owners’ homes and from the streets to rehome them with wonderful families that will love and care for them unconditionally.
Here are the top 9 cat rescues in the New Jersey area.
1. Furrever Friends Rescue & Volunteers, Inc.
Forever Friends is a local non-profit cat rescue that operates as a no-kill shelter to preserve the lives of local felines. They were recognized as an AdoptAPet.com Approved Rescue for 2022.
Local volunteers care for the felines in the cat adoption facility by helping to feed them, bond with them, and show interested pet owners the cats available for adoption.
They host multiple seasonal and special fundraisers. For example, they have an annual soy candle fundraiser every autumn, whereas 50% of the profits go back into shelter operation costs.
Furrever Friends Rescue & Volunteers Details:
- Location: Woodbury, NJ
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Furrever Friends Rescue & Volunteers, Inc
- Social Media: Facebook / Instagram / YouTube /Twitter
2. Purrfect Angels Cat Rescue
Purrfect Angels Cat Rescue is a no-kill non-profit cat shelter run by local volunteers. All cats available for adoption are cared for at the local PetSmart, where you can meet and apply to adopt them.
Their website states they hold bake sales on weekends at the local PetSmart. Some bake sales may take place at other locations. For more information, check their Facebook page for the most recent updates on bake sale locations for that week.
Purrfect Angels Details:
- Location: Turnersville, NJ
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Purrfect Angels Cat Rescue, Inc.
- Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
3. Tabby’s Place: A Cat Sanctuary
More than 100 cage-free cats roam at Tabby’s Place. Experience a more personal interaction with multiple cats at once in their natural habitat at the cat sanctuary.
Rated as a four-star charity via the Charity Navigator, they open every day from 1 pm to 4 pm to come to see the kitties. They contribute to the needs of all cats, such as elderly felines and those with heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions.
Tabby’s Place Details:
- Location: Ringoes, NJ
- Website: Tabby’s Place
- Social Media: Facebook / Instagram
4. Trenton Cat Rescue
Trenton Cat Rescue is a cat adoption facility lovingly run by local volunteers that allow fostering and adoption of the rescued felines they bring into their shelter.
Surrounded by an urban area, the cats on the streets and from prior families cannot fend for themselves, and that’s where Trenton Cat Rescue steps in to fill the gaps for felines throughout the community.
They track their outcomes and post them online to the general public. In 2021, they took in 1,055 cats with 969 total outcomes.
Out of the intake, 836 cats were adopted, ten were reclaimed to their current homes, 66 were transferred to another local shelter, and 24 became free-roaming cats. Unfortunately, 20 cats passed away, while 25 had to be euthanized.
Trenton Cat Rescue Details:
- Location: Trenton, NJ
- Website: Trenton Cats Rescue
- Social Media: Facebook / Instagram /Twitter
5. Catsbury Park
Catsbury Park is the first cat cafe in New Jersey that originated in 2016.
Since their inception, they have attended three cat conventions, assisted with hundreds of local adoptions for cats to find their forever homes, and have even started a podcast to spread the word about their cause.
Even if you cannot volunteer or adopt a cat, you can sponsor one instead. You can donate money to help care for a specific cat staying at Catsbury Park.
Alternatively, you can donate funds to the shelter monthly and receive a gift for every recurrent donation.
Catsbury Park Details:
- Location: Ashbury Park, NJ
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Catsbury Park
- Social Media: Facebook / Instagram
6. Calling All Cats Rescues
Calling All Cats Rescues is a new shelter for felines that originated in the past few years. They work alongside the local spay and neuter center to fix feral cats rescued in their area so that families in the local area are more willing to adopt them.
While they do not have a formal website, you can browse their Pet Finder profile to learn more about the cats they have available for adoption.
You can also browse recently adopted pets for lovely stories about how former rescue cats found their forever home.
Calling All Cats Rescues Details:
- Location: Toms River, NJ
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Calling All Cats Rescues
- Social Media: Facebook / TikTok / Instagram
7. Mew To You
Mew To You is a cat adoption facility that combines a shopping experience for antiques with socializing with rescue cats cage-free. The main shelter is the Cape Atlantic C.A.T.S., which stands for Citizens Altering the Strays.
The shelter’s story started with the owner, who was volunteering at another shelter at the time and heard about a tabby cat named Mandy and her four tiny kittens were to be euthanized because there was not enough space to accommodate them.
Since then, the owner and volunteers have sought to rescue cats in danger of being euthanized and felines found on the street.
Mew To You Details:
- Location: Ocean City, NJ
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Mew To You
8. The Lucky Cat Rescue
The Lucky Cat helps rescue cats with the trap-neuter-return technique, educating local cat owners so they stay in their forever homes longer and via foster-based rescuing.
This means that while they do not have a formal shelter to house the cats, local volunteers have opened their homes to foster the felines until new owners have come forward to adopt them.
The cat rescue used to hold regular adoption events, but they have been suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Alternatively, you can go visit the cats available for adoption at the local PetSmart in Secaucus, NJ.
The Lucky Cat Rescue Details:
- Location: Weehawken, Union County, Hudson County, North Bergen, and West New York, NJ
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: The Lucky Cat Rescue
- Social Media: Facebook
9. Catnip Friends Rescue
Catnip Friends Rescue shelters not only felines but also canines. Lending a paw to both species is the way they like to help at this rescue.
Sometimes, they visit other surrounding states where people report sightings of unwanted pets or strays on the streets and bring them back to their Hunterdon County location for them to find their forever homes.
Unfortunately, the cat owner was charged twice with animal cruelty, with the second offense in 2017.
However, the rescue has since then changed its adoption operations to be like that of other shelters rather than putting the pets for adoption, some that had flea infestations, at local parking lots.
Catnip Friends Rescue Details:
- Location: Ringoes, NJ
- Social Media: Facebook
Conclusion For “Best Cat Rescues in New Jersey”
With so many cat rescues in New Jersey and other registered animal sanctuaries, potential pet owners looking to adopt a feline have many locations and adoptees to choose from.
While one person cannot possibly save all the unwanted cats from prior families and strays on the street, we can do our part by visiting a local cat rescue to choose a feline to adopt. Happy cat rescuing!
