We are a team of volunteers dedicated to helping Community Cats and the people who care for them.

Communities Promoting Animal Welfare NJ (CPAW NJ) is dedicated to keeping cats out of shelters by controlling the outdoor cat population.

About Our Program

Communities Promoting Animal Welfare New Jersey (CPAW NJ) promotes TNR through trapping, education and financial assistance for TNR to caretakers in northern New Jersey.

Due to limited volunteer availability, we can usually get started sooner when a caregiver is able to help with trapping and transporting trapped cats to our recovery locations. Training will be provided if you are willing to learn.

Our appointments for spay/neuter are on Mondays. Our volunteers trap on weekends only. Our trapping schedule is often set weeks in advance, though we prioritize locations with pregnant cats and kittens.

When cats are trapped, they are delivered by the caregiver or a volunteer to a CPAW NJ recovery location, a volunteer’s home. On the morning of surgery, a transport volunteer brings the cat to one of the spay/neuter clinics that we use. A professional veterinary staff performs surgery in their facility. Another transport volunteer brings the cat back to the recovery location, where it is monitored until release day.

  • Males & Females – 24 hours

  • Pregnant Females – 72 hours

*These holding periods are subject to our discretion and may vary.

*Our clinics practice spay/abort on pregnant cats. This means that if we bring a cat to the clinic and she is pregnant, the pregnancy will be terminated.

We are not an animal rescue organization. This means we do not:

  • Have a shelter or foster network, or do adoptions

  • Relocate or advocate for the relocation of unsocialized cats

  • Respond to emergency requests for injured cats

  • Send volunteers to trap lost pets

We may not be able to assist with finding shelter or rescue placement for socialized cats and kittens. We suggest you connect with rescues in your area on your own so that we can focus on what we believe saves the most cats, which is TNR.

WE ARE NOT A KITTEN REMOVAL SERVICE. If we trap adoptable kittens and are able to find placement with a rescue partner, we require your cooperation in trapping adult cats on the property. It’s the only way we can prevent more kittens from being born outside.

How we might also help

  • Provide training on aspects on TNR, including responsible colony care

  • Lend traps to individuals to conduct TNR on their own

  • Provide hands-on or financial assistance

  • Provide connections to local community cat shelter builders

  • Advise caregivers on how to resolve disputes regarding community cats

  • Advice on cat colony best practices