UMKC - The Bloch School

A Furry Issue: How One Bloch Alumna is Saving Thousands of Lives

“People who save lives” conjures visions of doctors, nurses, EMTs and firefighters who save human lives every day. But humans aren’t the only ones who need help - there are other lives that need saving, and Bloch School Department of Public Affairs alumna Becky Robinson (MPA, ’87), co-founder and president of Alley Cat Allies, has found a way to save the lives of thousands of feral felines in need of help.

Becky Robinson (MPA ’87) with one of her many furry friends.

Robinson grew up in McPherson, Kan. and says she always had an interest in helping others. She earned a BA in social work from Bethany College in 1979, but says that later, her interests became more focused on how municipal agencies, their policies and their employees can be more responsive to the needs of the public. In seeking a graduate program that would match her interests, Robinson says the Bloch School’s Department of Public Affairs had the best reputation in the region for its program in public administration.

And for Robinson, that turned out to be very true. Robinson remembers the faculty and curriculum as being the catalyst that helped push her toward the important purpose she fulfills today. “Every professor had an influence on me,” she recalls. “I loved (and sometimes struggled with) the classes, but they really challenged me to think and expand my world views.”

Robinson says the experience she got with nonprofits during her education had a major impact on her career. “The exposure we had to nonprofit directors from across the country gave me in-depth understanding into the needs of nonprofits,” she says. “Between UMKC and Kansas City, I was around enough nonprofit organizations that I developed the confidence to found my own nonprofit and make it work.

But with so much need out there, where would Robinson direct her efforts? Although helping people was of interest, Robinson may have had an inevitable “predisposition” toward helping animals, considering her family formed the first Humane Society in McPherson in 1975. She also noted that while she saw a lot of nonprofits for children and animals, there seemed to be far fewer for animals. Robinson decided not only to focus on animals, but to take it a step further by working to improve the system rather than just improving the shelters.

Dick Heimovics, PhD, one of Robinson’s professors during her time at the Bloch School, says news of Robinson’s work did not come as a complete surprise. “Becky was one of those special students you just know will someday find a niche in life and follow a dream. I always knew she would find a place to express her incredible energy, commitment and good judgment.”

In 1988, Robinson moved to Washington, D.C. to work for animal protection on a national level. One day, she discovered a colony of feral cats living in a nearby alley. From that moment, her path became clear. “I realized there was nothing to be done for these animals,” she said. “Neither shelters nor individuals will adopt unsocialized cats.” Instead, they would most likely be trapped and killed as local governments tried to control their numbers.

Robinson had heard of a practice being used overseas in Denmark and the U.K. called Trap-Neuter-Return. Trap-Neuter-Return is a comprehensive, non-lethal approach to feral cat population control. Healthy feral cats are sterilized and vaccinated, and then returned to their habitat under the life-long care of volunteers. Adoptable (tame) cats and kittens are placed into homes.

“It was clear in our minds from that moment on that we would start a nonprofit around this cause,” Robinson says. “I feel fortunate that my time at Bloch gave me the experience I needed to start, run and maintain a nonprofit, from educating people and getting key players (like veterinarians) on board to running it like a business and obtaining the needed funding.”

And so Robinson and her small team founded the nonprofit organization Alley Cat Allies (ACA) in 1990, with a strong mission and vision to go forth and convince others to implement innovative, nonlethal solutions to combat overpopulation of domestic animals.

And then something unexpected happened. “We had not really done any advertising and I didn’t think anyone knew we were here – but we started getting calls from other people trying to help cats like the ones I found in the alley. There was no e-mail or Web site for our organization. But people all over the country were finding us – I have no idea how – and it crystallized the fact that the service we provide is a much needed on in this nation.”

The organization was national from the beginning. “There were colonies of these cats in every town and every countryside, and people wondering how to help them,” Robinson says.

The Norfolk Naval Shipyards came to Alley Cat Allies because they found groups of cats on their property that needed care. They contracted with ACA to carry out Trap-Neuter-Return. Prior to that, the only service available would have been removal of the cats to a shelter where they would have been euthanized.

The boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J. is known for many things, but a feral cat population isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But there is a two mile stretch of boardwalk harboring several colonies of cats that were being fed by boardwalk tourists. When some of the cats were being removed, the story caught the interest of local animal activists (and the local media), and the city had to respond.  

ACA was able to introduce Trap-Neuter-Return to Atlantic City’s public health director, and now the city implements this method as a formal program. “There were more than 200 cats living under the boardwalk,” Robinson explains, “and there was no plan to trap and spay/neuter them until Alley Cat Allies created one and carried it out. The cats are now cared for by volunteers.”

“Our real mission is to make right choices and better communities,” Robinson emphasizes. “Animal control systems in the U.S. are way behind the times. People are no longer embracing “catch and kill” methods. We must get policy makers to analyze the situation and make new policy.

Robinson and her now not-so-small team (24 employees, including a legal team) have spearheaded not just an effort, but a successful nationwide movement. Washington D.C. now has a Trap-Neuter-Return program. In fact, today more than 200 non-profit organizations are doing Trap-Neuter-Return and ACA has 19 countries in their network. Not to mention, Alley Cat Allies closed the last fiscal year at just over $5,000,000.

“It’s a feather in the Bloch School’s hat that I was able to do this – this is one nonprofit that is VERY successful and I owe a lot of it to the education I got at UMKC,” Robinson concludes.

To learn more about Alley Cat Allies, visit alleycat.org.

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