Why We Exist
No cats on the street. No cats in shelters.
Flatbush Cats aims to reduce overcrowded animal shelters in Brooklyn, and beyond.
We focus on proven, proactive approaches that keep pets with their families and cats off the street. By increasing access to veterinary care and support services for those who need it most, we reduce shelter surrenders and prevent more cats from ending up on the street.
Access to Veterinary Care
Providing affordable spay/neuter and preventative wellness care (for cats and dogs) at our nonprofit clinic.
Community Cat Support
Partnering with neighbors to TNR (Trap Neuter Return) and rescue outdoor cats.
Foster & Adoption
Finding loving homes for friendly street cats who need a fresh start.
The Problem
There are an estimated 500,000+ cats living on the streets across the five boroughs. Shelters are full. Rescue groups are stretched thin.
But these are symptoms of a bigger problem. The root cause is simple: lack of access to care.
A New Model of Care
Today, over 50% of U.S. pet owners can’t afford a basic vet visit. When people can’t access essential care, their pets suffer. And so do their communities.
Together, we built Flatbush Vet, a high-volume spay/neuter clinic serving both low-income pet owners and rescue/TNR volunteers across Brooklyn. Now we’re performing 7,500+ surgeries each year. And we’re just getting started.
This is a scalable model, and we plan to bring more clinics to more neighborhoods, until every pet owner in NYC has access to care.
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We’re bringing trusted medical care directly to families who need it most.
We host free Community Clinics on select Saturdays, providing our neighbors and their pets with no-cost wellness exams, vaccinations, preventative care, treatment for minor conditions, and pet food.
We service an average of 150 pets in a single day at no cost to families — offering hope, compassion, and dignity to our community in the process.
And because thousands of cats are fighting to survive across Brooklyn, we also run a Community Cat Program that specializes in rescuing friendly cats and performing TNR (trap neuter return) for struggling feral cats.Description text goes here
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We expand access to essential veterinary care for pet owners facing the greatest financial hardship, including providing preventative wellness care and affordable access to the most powerful tool we have to prevent overcrowded NYC shelters: spay/neuter surgeries.
In 2024 alone, we performed nearly 6,000 spay/neuter surgeries, averaging 25-50+ surgeries a day, and over 6,500 wellness exams. We also provided over 14,000 vaccinations and implanted over 3,000 microchips.
This work is critical to addressing the urgent need for accessible, low-cost veterinary care across the city and preventing thousands of kittens from being born outside.
Join 18,000+ animal advocates driving real change.
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Listen to our podcast.
Underfoot is a new podcast about the hidden cat crisis in NYC and what we can do to solve it. In this podcast, we go beyond rescue stories to reveal the systems that created this problem in the first place, and ask the question: What would it take to build a city where no cat is left behind?
Read our 2024 Annual Report
