JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Humane Society needs your help! (Unless you’re allergic to cats, that is.)
For those without allergies, JHS is calling on the community to save the lives of baby kittens after 443 kittens were brought into the shelter in the last 30 days.
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So far in 2025, JHS has taken in 531 kittens under 2 months old.
With the current influx, JHS is trying to avoid a cat-tastrophe.
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JHS is asking the community to come to the shelter at 8464 Beach Blvd. and volunteer to become a foster parent. The JHS team will provide any training and supplies you need.
The public is needed to help save these young lives, and JHS says there are many ways for you to get involved.
JHS encourages folks to join the team as temporary foster volunteers, bringing kittens into their homes and raising them until they are 8 weeks of age. JHS provides all medical care along with food and other supplies.
When the kittens reach the appropriate age and weight, they return to JHS to have spay/neuter surgery and find new, loving homes.
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Foster families save the lives of kittens of all ages. Some kittens are too young to eat on their own and require feedings from human helpers every few hours.
Others can eat on their own and need foster families to teach them how to play and snuggle. Occasionally, kittens will come to the shelter with their mother and a foster home provides a safe place for her to raise her kittens with minimal intervention from the foster family.
No matter the age, foster homes provide the supervision and care needed for kittens to survive and thrive.
Generally, the younger the kitten is the more supervision and care is required by a foster parent.
Older kittens usually do not need around-the-clock care but still benefit from the comfort of a home and family rather than spending their formative weeks in the shelter environment.
A kennel is no place to spend kittenhood!
JHS encourages people interested in adopting a kitten to consider fostering as well. Foster families receive special perks, including their “pick of the litter” to adopt a kitten in their foster care once they are of age and a waived adoption fee for their first kitten adoption.
“This is our busiest time of year for kittens, and it isn’t going to slow down any time soon,” said JHS CEO Lawrence Nicolas. “However, there is no place like Jacksonville when it comes to helping pets in need! We are beyond grateful for the support our community has shown to kittens so far this year, and we look forward to saving even more lives with their help. Come on down to JHS – the kittens need you!”
Community members are also asked to remember and follow the CASA method to assess the situation when they find kittens, as well as to remember that “kit-napping” kittens may not be in their best interest.
Information on how to help kittens found in the community can be found on the JHS website here.
Folks who are not able to foster -- like those with allergies -- who still want to help kittens in need are encouraged to donate kitten care items to JHS. Most-needed items can be viewed and ordered directly from the shelter’s Amazon wishlist and shipped to the shelter.
For information on becoming a foster parent, donating, or adopting, visit jaxhumane.org or call 904.725.8766.
This news aligns perfectly with News4JAX’s Passion 4 Pets initiative, sponsored by Doc Tony, which focuses on covering stories about rescued animals, adoptions, and success stories. To learn more about Passion 4 Pets, click here.
