Whiskers President Requests $350k for 50 Feral Fix from NJ Senate and Assembly

Kathy Gabrielescu, WRI President

It's unlikely that we'll ever receive any money from the state, but this was a much needed opportunity to speak to our government about a public health issue that's been ignored and mismanaged for far too long.

In another step towards fixing our state's broken public health and animal welfare policies, WRI President Kathy Gabrielescu delivered moving testimony to the New Jersey Senate and Assembly on March 24 and 25, 2026.

Starting on the 24th with a virtual Senate budget hearing and concluding with her in-person testimony to the Assembly in Trenton's State House Annex on the 25th, legislators were given a candid glimpse into the heartbreaking conditions that our residents face without adequate statewide spay/neuter resources and an urgent request for $350,000 to extend the WRI 50 Feral Fix program with a goal of fixing and vaccinating over 1,500 cats for residents in need.

For any representative under the impression that animal welfare is "just an animal issue," Kathy pulled no punches and highlighted the correlation between animal welfare, public health, and quality of life in the state.

"Animal issues are in fact human issues," she testified, and followed with strong examples of consequences that are taking their toll on people and animals across New Jersey.

March 25 Testimony, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

Did you know?

A staggering number of legislators claim to be unaware of the fact that our state has almost zero open admission shelters. Kathy drove this point home and explained that compounded with inadequate access to subsidized spay/neuter services, our towns and cities are facing astronomically rising numbers of both free-roaming outdoor cats as well as unsustainable numbers of cats in homes that no shelter can take and animal control refuses to address.

Kathy emphasized the ways that New Jersey's failure to provide adequate sheltering or spay/neuter services leaves residents in heartbreaking conditions:

• Living in cars with pets they have nowhere to surrender

• Homes filled with unvaccinated, breeding, ill cats

• Threats of eviction and housing instability

• Abandoned animals

• Exposure to zoonotic disease from encounters with homeless unvaccinated animals

• Documented attacks on humans and exposure caused by residents and unregulated rescues placing stray cats without basic health care or vaccines

Countless NJ residents are turned away every day by a broken shelter system.

Kathy left our legislators online and in Trenton with a serious decisions to consider: financially support organizations like WRI who exist to supplement inadequate animal control programs, or do nothing to alleviate the effects of the state's unchecked cat population. Any delays in addressing the growing population in NJ will ultimately cost residents as property is further damaged, cruelty escalates, and the risk to public health increases.

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Whiskers Rescue's work has always included assisting residents with financial support and "boots on the ground" help in being responsible caretakers with no more litters. What makes us different is our mission to stop the cycle through systemic change. We know that we cannot rescue or adopt our way out of the cat overpopulation crisis. In recent years we have navigated a truly broken system and through constant research, outreach, and review of open records, held decision makers responsible. We are one of very few organizations working to effect statewide change across public health, municipal law enforcement, and animal welfare areas. We cannot continue this massive undertaking without supporters like you.