4 Paws Rescue Team, Inc.

Dynamic, community-based animal rescue organization taking in neglected, abandoned and unwanted cats, featuring an aggressive adoption program complemented by humane education to end pet overpopulation. 703-715-MEOW (6369)

Why do we exist?

4Paws was founded to help homeless cats and kittens find permanent loving homes. We take in stray cats and kittens, pets given up by their owners, and cats that are being neglected or mistreated. Local animal shelters often call asking us to rescue cats that are in imminent danger of being euthanized. 4Paws is a “no kill” shelter. So, once a cat enters 4Paws’ adoption program, he will never be euthanized unless out of medical necessity. More than 6 million cats and dogs are killed each year in U.S. shelters; millions more never make it to a shelter, but die premature deaths from accidents, starvation or disease. 4Paws takes in these abandoned, abused and unwanted cats and kittens, provides them with the veterinary care necessary to prepare them for adoption and then finds them permanent loving homes. 4Paws is unique because of the care that we take with each adoption. Adopters are carefully screened not only to find loving life-long homes for our cats, but also to find the best match between cat and adopter.

What have you accomplished?

4Paws found permanent, loving homes for almost 600 cats during the past year. Since inception, eight years ago, we have found new homes for almost 4,500 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.” There is the story of the cat rescued from a shelter, moments before being put to sleep because of overcrowding in the facility. This cat, an adult female, was adopted into a family that had never before had a pet. The little girl had always wanted to get a cat, but the time never seemed appropriate. Then when the little girl got sick and had to stay in bed during a prolonged recovery, her parents decided to adopt a cat from 4Paws to keep her company. Soon after bringing the cat home, the little girl’s mother called to tell us how their adopted cat had brightened her daughter’s life.

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