Q1: Please introduce yourself to our community?
Hello! I’m Bryan Kortis, National Program Director and co-founder of Neighborhood Cats. We deal almost exclusively with feral and stray cats and the people who feed them, primarily using a method called Trap & Neuter Return or TNR.
Basically, our goal is to spay and neute cats that live outdoors and are too feral to be adopted, and care for them as well as possible. We have hands-on programs in New York City, parts of New Jersey, and Maui, Hawaii.
We’ll do everything from trapping, training caretakers, providing winter shelter, arranging veterinary care, and whatever else is needed. On a more global level, we have created many of the leading educational materials on TNR in the field of animal welfare.
We also design feral cat-specific equipment, consult with the community on large TNR projects, manage a free cat tracking database, and host a popular website with TNR practitioners.
Q2: Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind Neighbor Cats?
It all started in 1999 when I was walking by a vacant lot near my apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. I saw some kittens running around, and after some research, learned that there were dozens of feral cats living in yards on that block.
I called around for help for them, but there was no service for wild animals. Myself and a few neighbors started trapping cats and taking them to private veterinarians to have them spayed and adopt kittens.
Within a year, the situation was completely under control. Word spread quickly, and others wanted us to do the same for their outdoor cats, or learn to do it themselves. We started workshops for city agencies and TNR projects.
With such great demand in New York City and across the country, the jobs just kept growing — and our reach continues to grow to this day.
Q3: How does the neighbor’s cat look like every day?
While we make a big impact, Neighborhood Cats is actually a relatively small organization with just five full-time staff and many volunteers. Given our size and the breadth of what we do, one thing I can say for sure is that every day is different.
My own day would probably include bringing home a cat that was immobilized at the Maui Humane Society the day before and releasing it. Then work on our website, edit a chapter in a book, review new device designs with manufacturers, draft a fundraising email, and go out baiting as night falls.
Never bored! This is true for all of us here. Everyone is very committed to our mission.
Q4: What do you like most about working at Neighborhood Cats?
I particularly like two parts of this work. One is its creativity. In the early days of the TNR movement, it has been amazing to see the progress that has been made and how more and more shelters and communities are practicing it.
What was once fringe is now almost normal. It’s like watching a dream come true and being a part of it at the same time. Another aspect I like is the cat itself. They’re all such people that even though some don’t particularly want you near them, they just ooze personality. It’s really gratifying to be able to help them.
Q5: What is the future of Neighborhood Cats?
We’ve co-authored a book on returning to the field—a program for feral cats to be held and released by shelters rather than euthanized—that will be published soon. Tomahawk Live Trap introduces some new equipment that we have designed to assist trappers.
A very exciting upcoming project will be a very large scale TNR research project in Australia for which we will be a partner. We are also working to spread TNR in Hawaii, which has traditionally been a difficult place for feral cats to survive. So the future continues to look busy!
Q6: How can we help our neighbor’s cats?
If someone wants to directly support our organization, a donation is the best way to do it. Like most animal welfare nonprofits, we rely on the public to fund our work. Monthly gifts are especially helpful, and we have many $5 monthly donors.
Just go to www.neighborhoodcats.org and click the donate button. Another way to support us is to designate Neighborhood Cats as a charity of your choice on smile.amazon.com. This way, a portion of all your Amazon purchases will be donated to us. If anyone wants to help by helping cats and you live in the NYC area, we hold regular classes.
Attendance offers you free spay/neuter services, free trap rentals, expert volunteers, and more. For upcoming seminars, please visit: https://www.
Elsewhere in the country, please visit our website and check out the instructional videos and books under ‘How To TNR & Resources’ and feel free to contact us with any questions. We also provide consulting services for large TNR programs. Bottom line, if you see a cat in need and decide to feed them, that’s a good thing, but make sure to fix them too!
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
