4 Paws Rescue Team, Inc.

Community-based, all-volunteer organization rescues neglected, abandoned and unwanted cats, featuring an aggressive adoption program complemented by humane education to end pet overpopulation. 703-715-6369

Why do we exist?

4Paws Rescue Team came into existence in 1995 to help homeless cats, people who find homeless cats, and individuals who are looking to add a new pet to their households.  The homeless cat problem in the DC Metro area is out of control.  One female cat and her offspring can produce more than 400,000 cats in seven years.  Every day, friendly, adoptable cats in DC area shelters are being euthanized because the shelters are over-crowded and need to make room to take in more strays and relinquished pets.

4Paws takes cats and kittens out of local shelters when their time runs out, usually just hours before they are scheduled to die.  A local veterinarian examines all cats and kittens rescued by the organization.  They are treated for illness and receive wellness care that includes sterilization, vaccines and testing for Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency  Virus (FIV).   

4Paws also rescues stray cats and pets whose owners can no longer care for them.  4Paws is a No-Kill shelter and has a 100% return policy.  If for any reason, at any time in the future, an adopter can no longer care for his 4Paws cat, we will take the cat back into our adoption program.  There has been a recent increase in owner relinquished pets in large part due to the weak economy.  4Paws also helps military pet owners who are deployed overseas and cannot take their cats with them.

Many of the cats rescued by 4Paws, especially those coming from shelters, are sick with parasites and viruses.   Also, many suffer emotional trauma from abandonment or trying to survive on the streets.  Often our rescued cats require several weeks of care before they are healthy enough—physically and emotionally to be adopted into permanent homes.  4Paws volunteers take the time to get to know the cats’ personalities and the adopters’ needs in an effort to match each adopter with the most appropriate pet for his situation.

What have you accomplished?

Since inception in 1995, 4Paws volunteers have found homes for more than 7,500 cats and kittens.  At the height of kitten season, the average adoption fair showcases as many as 100 baby kittens, teenages and adults cats. Every day, 4Paws volunteers have opportunities to change lives—both feline and human. Every cat saved has a story—most of them sad—of a life before 4Paws. Every stray taken in off the streets, every cat taken out of a shelter, every cat that comes to 4Paws instead of a shelter when his owners are moving and can’t take him—is a feline life saved. The story does not end with the saving of the feline life, though. 4Paws receives letters, emails, and phone calls every day telling of the way in which 4Paws cats have touched and changed the lives of their adopters. Over and over again, we hear “… I can’t imagine life without my 4Paws cat.”

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