Welcome To Gotham City Kitties
Gotham City Kitties [GCK] is dedicated to improving the lives of feral cats through Trap-Neuter-Return [TNR], reducing the number of abandoned friendly cats living on the streets, and providing lifetime sanctuary to feral cats with no other viable options. Gotham City Kitties [GCK] is a private, 501(c)(3), volunteer-run, non-profit organization.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help NC become a no-kill state by advocating for T-N-R and feral colony management to replace euthanasia as a means of population control.
GCK does not receive city, state, or federal funding. All of the money to support our rescue efforts comes out of our own pockets or from individual donations. Donations are used to offset medical costs, T-N-R related costs, and daily living expenses of the cats in the sanctuary. All donations made directly to GCK are tax-deductible.
The Beginning
BEFORE Gotham City Kitties was official, our founder, Elizabeth Newsom, had nine rescued cats. An apropos number, no? She didn’t consider herself a rescuer, but she did, in fact, personally rescue eight of them. The third was, of course, a foster fail. For photos and tails of the Originals click here.
Fast forward a year or so to September 2001, when she was living in Tribeca a few blocks from the World Trade Center. From her morning runs, she knew many of the local neighborhood deli and restaurant cats. In the few days following 911, she provided the ASPCA with information on the business names and locations. Thankfully, the “A” was able to contact the owners to get the most of the cats to safety. Some of the cats were put up for adoption, as they were used solely for “rat control.”
On Sunday, September 16th, 2001, when she exited a subway station in Dumbo, Brooklyn, she walked past a parking lot a few blocks away that had at least 28 cats and kittens running around behind a chain-link fence. It took almost a month for the property owner to get back to her and find a rescue group willing to help. In the interim, she commuted forty-five minutes in the opposite direction, nightly after work and on the weekends to feed them.
On October 13th, 2001, with one humane trap, nine cat carriers, an eager five-year-old helper, and zero trapping experience, she successfully trapped eight feral adult cats, transferring them into the carriers in the back of a rented SUV. She had NO CLUE as to what she was doing, but everything worked out OK. Over the next twelve years, she rescued more than 108 cats from that one parking lot alone; 16 more were also feral and returned to live as a colony that she managed. The remainder were fostered, socialized, and eventually adopted.
She volunteered for a few rescue groups in Manhattan and Hoboken, NJ for the first two years—to place the adoptable cats and kittens. One of them suggested that she form her own rescue group if she was going to continue at such a fervid pace. Gotham City Kitties received its 501(c)(3) status in 2003 and has been active ever since in three states.