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Feral Cats Need Families Too!

Not all cats adopted from the Burbank Animal Shelter are domesticated. Our Barn Cat Program is designed to place unsocialized feral cats who do not like humans into working homes where they can earn their keep as a natural rodent deterrent.

Two Barn Cat Program cats in their home in Los Feliz. Photo Credit: Bonnie Caul

Sadly, the overwhelming majority of feral cats brought to shelters are euthanized because there are not enough working homes for them. The Barn Cat Program works to place as many as possible in working homes like barns, stables, industrial facilities, and residential yards to give them a second chance at life. Like all the other cats adopted from the Burbank Animal Shelter, Barn Cats are all spayed/neutered and immunized before going to their new homes.

Shasta and Max getting acquainted with their new home in Northridge. Photo Credit: Bonnie Caul

Volunteers deliver the cats (Some as far away as Ojai!) and provide Barn Cat adopters with initial supplies and general procedures for introducing the cats to their new environment. For the first few weeks Barn Cats are kept in a kennel so they can grow acquainted with their surroundings and learn that the location is their new home. Adopters are responsible for providing food, water and a shelter for the cats, while the cats patrol the property and take care of mice and other pests.

A few weeks later: Shasta and Max all settled in in their new outdoor home. Photo credit: Bonnie Caul

Last year, the Barn Cat Program saved over 35 cats, but the number of feral cats is high, and we are always in need of more working homes. If you have a barn, warehouse, or other suitable location for a Barn Cat (or know someone that does), please consider adopting a Barn Cat! It’s a natural way to control vermin, and you’ll be saving the life of a cat that otherwise would have no chance.
Have questions? Email: barncat@thevbas.org

Living the good life in a backyard in Los Angeles.