Our Impact in 2025

Shadow Cats 806 Awarded the 2025 Texas Animal Friendly Grant

 In 2025, Shadow Cats 806 was honored to be selected as a recipient of the Texas Animal Friendly Grant, a state-funded program administered by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to expand access to low-cost and no-cost spay and neuter services for community dogs and cats.

 This competitive grant is funded through the sale of Texas specialty license plates that carry animal-welfare messaging, including Animal Friendly, Spay. Neuter. Adopt., and other public-health-focused plate designs. A portion of every plate purchase is placed into the Animal Friendly Fund, which directly supports organizations providing sterilization services that reduce animal overpopulation, shelter strain, and community cat suffering.

🌟 Why This Grant Matters

 Texas continues to face one of the highest rates of stray and community animal overpopulation in the United States. The Animal Friendly Grant Program was created to address this challenge by:

• Increasing public access to spay and neuter services

• Reducing unplanned litters and stray populations

• Supporting public health and safety

• Relieving overcrowded shelters

• Preventing long-term community animal suffering

 Organizations awarded funding must demonstrate measurable impact, strong community partnerships, and a commitment to high-volume sterilization services for owned and unowned animals.

💙 How Shadow Cats 806 Was Selected

 Shadow Cats 806 was chosen as a 2025 grant recipient based on a combination of factors that clearly aligned with the goals and requirements of the Animal Friendly Program:

 ✔️ Proven TNVR/TNR Impact

 Our nonprofit operates in Hutchinson County, Texas, providing Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) services for community cats. Our service region includes rural and industrial communities where access to affordable veterinary care is limited, making sterilization outreach critical.

 ✔️ High-Need Geographic Service Area

 Hutchinson County and the surrounding Texas Panhandle (806 region) experience a high volume of unsterilized community cats, contributing to exponential population growth. Our proposal focused on reducing that growth through strategic TNVR intervention.

 ✔️ Consistent Surgical Program Structure

 In 2025, we launched our weekly sterilization initiative Freedom Fix Friday, transporting 1–2 cats every Friday for surgery through partner veterinary clinics. This consistent schedule demonstrated reliability, scalability, and measurable outcomes—key factors in funding decisions.

 ✔️ Strong Community & Veterinary Partnerships

 Our application highlighted active collaboration with:

• Local veterinary providers supporting high-volume cat surgeries

• TNR volunteers and field trappers across Hutchinson County

• Educational outreach networks promoting spay/neuter advocacy

• Rural feeding groups assisting feral colony monitoring

• Community stakeholders helping us access underserved cat populations

✔️ Public Education & Outreach Strategy

 In addition to sterilization services, we committed to expanding community education through programs like Feral Facts Friday, public awareness campaigns, and digital advocacy that encourage responsible, accessible, and compassionate animal care.

🏆 Our 2025 Grant Proposal Highlights

 The funding we received supports:

• Increased TNVR surgeries for community cats

• Transportation and coordination of surgery days

• Veterinary reimbursement for spay/neuter and vaccines

• Expansion of rural Panhandle TNR access

• Continued reduction of community cat overpopulation

 This grant enables us to fix the future for cats who would otherwise continue the cycle of uncontrolled breeding and preventable suffering.

✨ What This Means for Our Community

 Being awarded the Texas Animal Friendly Grant means more than funding—it means validation of our mission, our methods, and our community’s voice.

 It means:

• More feral cats receive life-saving sterilization

• Fewer kittens are born into preventable hardship

• Rural cat colonies are humanely stabilized

• Hutchinson County becomes a model for effective TNVR intervention

• Community cats stay feral, free, and protected