Louise Holton

Louise Holton

Louise Holton, a South African native, began her animal welfare career in the mid-1970s, when she worked with the Johannesburg SPCA to trap-neuter-return feral cats. In 1990 Louise and Becky Robinson worked on a colony of feral cats in Adams Morgan, Washington, D. C. Later that year, realizing the need for a National Network, they co-founded Alley Cat Allies.

At that time only a few individuals throughout the country were TNRing feral cats. Most animal agencies were catching and killing. In 1990, Alley Cat Allies (ACA) was borne. The organization was a resource for those who believe a more humane method of controlling feral cats should be utilized, instead of trapping and killing. Today, ACA has well over 150,000 supporters.

In the year 2000 Louise set out once again on her own and founded Alley Cat Rescue (ACR), where she currently serves as the group’s president. This organization serves as the nation’s go-to resource for expertise on all aspects of the feral cat issue, while offering hands-on resources such as adoption services for unwanted cats, low-cost spay/neuter services and a local spay/neuter clinic for feral cats. ACR protects all cats: domestic, stray, feral and wild, and has over 100,000 supporters.

Over the years, Louise Holton has sterilized over 22,000 cats and found homes for over 2,500 cats. She has directly helped cats in the United States, Mexico and South Africa. Louise has won several awards, including the Animal Kingdom Kindred Spirit Award and Animal Champion Pin from the Doris Day Animal Foundation. Louise shares her home in Brentwood, Maryland with Lilly and Bandit, two dogs she rescued from Mexico, and a few of her rescued cats.

Alley Cat Rescue’s newsletter Cat Mews has received several awards from the Cat Writers’ Association, with Louise as one of the Editors along with Kylie Riser.

 

Alley Cat Rescue