About Us

Dedicated to Improving the Lives of Free-roaming and Unowned Cats

Island Cat Resources and Adoption (ICRA) is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, working mainly in Alameda and Oakland, California. We are dedicated to improving the lives of free-roaming and unowned cats through spay/neuter, adoption, and community education.

Since we began in 1994, ICRA has spayed or neutered over 22,000 cats, found homes for over 3,300 cats, and assisted in getting many hundreds more off the streets and placed in homes through local pet adoption organizations.

ICRA Depends on Volunteers & Supporters

ICRA is a small group with limited resources. We owe our accomplishments solely to the hard work and compassion of a dedicated corps of volunteers and supporters, all of whom share a passionate concern for the health and welfare of the homeless cats in our community. The need, however, far exceeds the capacity of ICRA’s volunteer force. Although we continue to conduct some rescue or trap-neuter-return projects ourselves, we simply cannot solve the local cat overpopulation problem ourselves. Consequently, we have shifted our focus from hands-on work to providing education, tools, and resources to those in the community who are willing to act in their own backyards or neighborhood.

We Care for Cats

Every cat ICRA traps or rescues is carefully evaluated for adoptability. Tame cats and kittens young enough to be socialized are placed in foster homes, and taken into our adoption program when they are ready for a responsible and loving permanent home. The goal of our adoption program is to place the right cat(s) with the right people. To that end, we have established an adoption screening and home visit program in which our adoption site volunteers collaborate with our foster homes to make each placement. ICRA reserves the right to refuse any adoption that, in our judgment, is not in the best interest of the cat(s) or kitten(s) involved.

Help Support ICRA

ICRA is in constant need of donations to cover the cost of spay-neuter surgeries, vaccinations, FeLV/FIV testing, medical treatment for sick and injured cats, and the purchase of cages for recovering animals, humane traps, and other equipment. Please support us. All donations are tax-deductible.

You can support us with time and energy, too. ICRA is always looking for new ideas and fresh energy to accomplish its mission. If you love cats and want to improve the lives of those in the Alameda-Oakland area, you can help in a number of ways: become a foster family; volunteer at our adoption site; become the guardian to a colony of community (feral) cats, feeding them and keeping an eye on their health and safety; transport cats to vet clinics for spay/neuter surgeries or other medical care; help us with public relations, fundraising, graphic design, data entry or other administration tasks; or work on our newsletter;. Tell us where your talents lie and we can put them to good use for a great cause. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us for more information. We would love to hear from you!