The cats we care for at St. Sophia’s come from many different places. The majority of the cats we help are those that are helpless, who have not experienced love or a home, stray, abused, and neglected cats. Primarily we work with high-volume/high-kill animal controls to save cats from needless euthanasia. Our largest partner is Chicago Animal Care and Control. Other ACs we partner with are Aurora, Joliet Township, DuPage, Herrin, Marion, Quincy, Tilton, Union, Jasper, and Whiting.

St. Sophia’s also works with local Trap-Neuter-Return organizations. Trap-Neuter-Return (also known as TNR) is a method of humanely trapping unaltered feral cats, neutering them, and releasing them back to the same environment where they were originally found. TNR is promoted by proponents as a humane and more effective alternative for managing and reducing feral cat populations (compared to euthanasia). While most cats trapped are completely feral (wild, without any domestic socialization), some cats—often kittens, or even adults that have been well cared-for outdoors—can, and have, become socialized and adoptable. TNR organizations aren’t equipped to handle the “friendlies” that come in, so we step in to assist those cats looking for homes.

Lastly, some of our cats are direct owner surrenders. Sometimes circumstances have it that people are unable to care for their cats due to moving, eviction, financial issues, death, allergies, etc. We accept these cats in when we have space and maintain a waiting list of those who need assistance. If you ever find yourself in this type of position, please read our surrender policies to see how we can help.