Help Toronto cats by volunteering, fostering, donating or adopting

Toronto cats need you!

Well, more specifically, Toronto Cat Rescue (TCR) needs volunteers and foster homes to help care for the hundreds of feline buddies that walk through its doors.

The organization is a no-kill, non-profit charity based in Etobicoke and has been working for 25 years to rescue and find homes for abandoned, neglected or abused cats, especially those in dangerous situations or at risk of euthanasia in overcrowded animal shelters.

TCR has over 1,000 volunteers who help drive cats from shelters to vet appointments, screen and guide potential adopters, coordinate foster homes and care for cats onsite at PetSmarts in Kennedy Commons and Liberty Village. 

You can learn more about each volunteering opportunity and fill out a short application form on TCR’s volunteer page.

If you’re open to commit a bit more, you can sign up to become a foster home for cats in need. As a foster, you’d host a cat in your home and temporarily look after them for a while until they ultimately find their forever family somewhere in the city. Foster home volunteers must have the room for the rescue cat and be able to spend time and provide food and litter to their furry companion. You can read all about the requirements here and expectations here.

“These are the linchpin of the organization, really, because for every foster home that takes in a new cat, it frees up a space [for us] to rescue more,” says Dave Golsin, TCR fund development manager. “So having more foster homes is crucial because it really helps us to increase the speed at which we can rescue cats, but also just the number. It increases our capacity drastically. They really are just a hugely important resource. We couldn’t do what we do without them,” he adds.

Recently, the organization worked with Humane World for Animals to rescue multiple cats living in extremely poor conditions, including outdoors in freezing weather and in unsafe, unsanitary buildings. Now, TCR needs help taking care of 39 cats. This means the organization will need more foster homes. It’s also running a fundraising campaign with a $15,000 matching gift donation from a couple celebrating their anniversary. This means any donation made in the campaign — up to $15,000 — will be doubled.

There are also other fun ways to get involved, like a cat-themed Bowl-a-thon fundraiser on Sept. 26 at Parkway Mall (67 Ellesmere Rd.) in Scarborough.

If you’re planning to participate in the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon in mid-October (or if you just heard about it), you can choose to donate to Toronto Cat Rescue.

Last but not least, TCR has plenty of rescue cats ready to find their forever homes. You can check them out here and learn about the adoption process here.

“So if anyone wants to have a big impact in helping us save more lives over the rest of the summer, they can do it either by donating or by joining us as a foster home,” Goslin says.