CFA Programs

Ambassadors

The CFA Ambassador Program will help exhibitors give a public face to the cat fancy and offers knowledge transfer from those of you who know to the interested public. You will see some of us wearing buttons that say ” Ask Me.” The buttons are to provide the public with a contact person. If we don’t have the answer, we will get it. Our Handbook is a wonderful tool for talking about CFA and their positions on many cat related subjects.

If you’re exhibiting at a show and want to help the public learn about CFA and the pedigreed cat, understand how the rings work and what the cat show is about, etc., you may enroll in the CFA Ambassador Program to help. You will receive an identity button, a cage topper and a handbook so you can become totally familiar with answers to the most frequently asked questions at a cat show. The CFA Ambassador Program is a first-rate resource for those who are interested in helping people understand CFA.

Animal Welfare Committee

No other organization does more for the health and welfare of cats than The Cat Fanciers’ Association. Consider the far-reaching effects of the health studies financed by the EveryCat Health Foundation. Consider the effect of our cattery inspection program, and our commitment, worldwide, to rescue and aid cats displaced during disasters. On top of that add in our Trap, Test, Vaccinate, Alter, Identify and Release Program for managed feral cat colonies, our promotion of responsible pet ownership and public education, our dedication to present the most beautiful cats in the world to the public, and our quest to constantly do the “right thing”.

Education is one of our priorities, and we are working on proposals for ethics and education. Pamphlets are being drafted, in conjunction with the animal health committee, for buyer education and youth education regarding responsible pet ownership. A new program will see vet students receive copies of our breed profiles, EveryCat Health Foundation information, and a presentation on our CFA recognized breeds, cattery management, the CFA Inspection program, disaster relief, and a discussion of breeder/veterinarian relationships.

CFA has been an integral part of the disaster rescue picture. At the Disaster Summit hosted by the American Humane Association, CFA was recognized as the expert in cat rescue and aid, and will be a vital participant in any future disaster rescue mission as warranted. Our goal is to provide the appropriate level of resourcing based on the disaster, be it money, personnel, supplies, and/or equipment.

Taken from Animal Welfare Committee report to Annual Meeting June 1995

Breeders’ Assistance

CFA has developed a program for owners of catteries who find themselves overwhelmed for various reasons.

The program aims to help and support breeders, who find themselves in an out-of-control situation, by making assistance available through other breeders. Help and support will be provided upon request.

Learn More >

Feline Agility

You’ve all heard about dog agility competitions, and have thoroughly enjoyed watching the dogs whip through the obstacle courses with determination and speed. It’s amazing how they can climb up and down those high steps and race through those weave pole areas with such ease and speed. Now, can you actually imagine a cat lowering its dignity enough to do that?

But, of course! Cats are definitely trainable and most are willing to follow a feather or dangling toy anywhere!

For more information, please visit the Feline Agility website

New Exhibitors

The motto of the The Cat Fanciers’ Association New Exhibitors Program is “Positive Experience. Positively Fun!” We believe that exhibiting pedigreed cats should be a positive, rewarding experience. The sport may be competitive, but the rewards of learning about and improving your breed and connecting with exhibitors (who may even turn out to be lifelong friends) is the real reward that the cat fancy has to offer.

For more information, please visit the New Exhibitors website

Junior Fanciers

The CFA Junior Fanciers Program engages youth from 7 to 18 in activities from drawing a poster, to doing a breed presentation, to working on a show committee, to taking a therapy cat to visit a hospital unit.

The program is designed to allow youth to enjoy the cat fancy and excel at their own pace through the activities and age categories while enhancing their appreciation for felines and feline inspired professions.

For more information, please visit the Junior Fanciers website

CFA’s Legislative Group

The CFA Legislative Group is charged with providing guidance to those individuals or member clubs who are opposing unreasonable animal control legislation in their geographic area. The committee members review and analyze proposals, offer opinions, and provide information to those working to overcome the pressure to limit and control the activities of pedigreed cat breeders as a way to end what has been termed “Pet Overpopulation”.

We continuously put forth a broader perspective, and this has led to our preference for the term, “cat and dog population surplus” since “pet” “overpopulation” implies that too much reproduction is the sole source of the problems which result in unnecessary euthanasia in shelters, and that people’s pets are entirely responsible . Neither premise is correct.

The CFA Legislative Group has instead emphasized that there are many complex factors involved, including shelter operation policies, abandonment and relinquishment of once wanted animals, unnecessary limit laws, and lack of acceptance of pets in rental housing. Though we recognize that overpopulation is an important factor, it is the uncontrolled matings of feral cats and the unplanned reproduction of free roaming pet cats which need to be the focus. The numbers of cats of a recognizable breed found in shelters is negligible to extremely low in proportion to that of cats which are random bred, homeless, feral and/or unweaned kittens.

Euthanasia of dogs and cats can not be completely eliminated. There will always be some animals for whom this is the most humane option when they are suffering or dangerously aggressive, yet many animal control agencies are unable or unwilling to provide the data needed to understand the true extent of this factor. CFA has worked with other organizations to initiate standardization of basic animal control information throughout the country.

The Legislative Group has also urged cat fanciers to oppose laws that unfairly target responsible pet owners in addition to breeders of pedigreed cats. Some of these laws are primarily designed to find new sources of funds for animal control and actually serve to discourage pet ownership without effecting the problems leading to shelter euthanasia.

Our objectives over the last five years have included the encouragement of acceptable and effective alternatives to legislative restrictions. We have circulated and published information and reports of innovative community action plans and successful programs. A recent mailing to cat fanciers of the San Francisco SPCA “Adoption Pact 1995” report describes a dramatic example of a major city and county which has eliminated euthanasia of all adoptable dogs and cats without government mandates.

During 1994 the CFA Legislative Group increased our network of informed contacts across the country. These highly talented people within the cat fancy provide grass roots opposition to detrimental laws and also actively work on positive programs. The Committee continues to put forth CFA’s views to reinforce the value of preserving the breeding of pedigreed cats and to encourage ethical breeding practices that will help reduce the number of unwanted cats.

In the past few years the CFA Legislative Group members and other cat fanciers have been successful. We have defeated many unreasonable laws, assumed positions on community Task Forces and councils, effectively presented our views at hearings, and established beneficial association with dog fancy groups and feral cat trap/alter/release groups. The Legislative Committee Matching Fund has provided for mailings of flyers and reports and other grass roots activities. We have supported the collection of data and initiated epidemiology studies which have given us useful information. At the American Humane Association October 1993 meeting in Baltimore, the “cat lobby” was stated as being a major detriment to the forces in favor of coercive laws.

Since 1993 we, and aligned groups such as the National Pet Alliance, the Texas Coalition and the San Francisco SPCA, have defeated several critical state bills in California, Texas, Florida and elsewhere along with numerous county and city ordinances. The Legislative Group, its network and our partner groups have had an impact on detrimental legislation.

We urge cat fanciers to be alert to laws in your state and community, and to become active. We appreciate the courage and willingness of those who go to hearings and fight for the ability of all cat fanciers to breed pedigreed cats without bureaucratic, expensive and coercive restriction. We need everyone’s help to support those willing to speak out and to make telephone calls, write letters and send faxes. The pressure does work.