Hello! We are very excited to introduce The National Cat Behavior Helpline providing no-cost, phone-based cat behavior assistance to help keep cats in homes & out of shelters. We urge shelters & rescues to refer potential cat surrenderers to us as well as cat adopters & fosters who need assistance! Attached is our flier to provide to your staff. If you have questions, please contact the Helpline founder, Matt Wildman, at
felinehelpline@gmail.com or (347) 938-7692. (More info on Matt is below.) Additonal informaton:
- We ask shelter/rescue staff to provide us with the contact information of the client as we've found that it is easier to connect with clients if we reach out to them.
- We will contact the client within 24-48 hours.
- We can provide assistance for any type of behavior issue, including aggression.
- We will provide ongoing support until the behavior issue is resolved.
- When requested, we will follow up with the shelter/rescue about any case.
- If you would like to also volunteer on the Helpline, you can take Humane World for Animals' free, self-paced online Cat Behavior Counselor Course. Graduates of the course will receive addtional training and can then begin volunteering on the Helpline.
Matt Wildman is a cat behaviorist who served for four years as the resident cat behaviorist at Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States). During that time he created a variety of educational resources for the animal sheltering world, including The Guide to Cat Behavior Counseling and the Cat Behavior Counseling Course, along with a series of webinars and articles. He has done dozens of presentations to shelters as well as at Animal Care Expo and at the annual conference of New England Federation of Humane Societies. Matt was originally a public high school history teacher for eight years in Brooklyn, NY and he entered the animal sheltering field in 2006 when he became Animal Care Center of NYC's Humane Education and Volunteer Manager. Subsequently, he was an Adoption and Admissions Manager at the ASPCA in New York City and also served as Vice President of Community Engagement at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in NJ. He currently resides outside of Albany, NY. #AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment#FosterPrograms#PetSupportServices*------------------------------
Matthew Wildman
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