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Every day, unowned cats are born into lives of uncertainty. Many face hunger, illness, injury, and short lifespans. For decades, the most humane and effective response has been spay/neuter: prevent future litters, stabilize colonies, and reduce suffering over time.
But the need is growing, and traditional approaches are not enough.
To make a bigger impact, faster, we have to do two things at once:
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Increase clinic capacity, so more cats can be altered each year.
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Be more strategic about which cats we alter, so every surgery has the greatest possible impact.
That is why Forgotten Felines created Beacon.
Beacon is a data-driven planning tool designed to help us see the full picture of Sonoma County's unowned cat population.
It helps us understand where cats are, which colonies are growing, where unaltered cats remain, and where spay/neuter efforts can prevent the most future births.
Instead of simply asking, "How many cats did we alter?" Beacon helps us ask the more important question:
Where can the next surgery make the biggest difference?
What Beacon is
The problem Beacon is built to solve
Spay/neuter works, but population reduction depends on timing, location, and strategy.
Altering 50 cats is always good. But altering the right 50 cats, in the right area, at the right time, can change the future of an entire colony.
Without better data, organizations are often forced to respond to the loudest need, the most visible colony, or the next available appointment. Beacon helps us move from reactive to strategic.
It gives our team a clearer way to identify:
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Areas where cat populations are likely to grow
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Colonies with high numbers of unaltered cats
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Locations where intact females are driving future births
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Neighborhoods where focused intervention could stabilize populations faster
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Gaps in service that would otherwise be hard to see
How Beacon helps
Beacon connects the information we already collect through our clinics, trapping work, colony reports, and community calls, then turns it into a usable map and planning tool.
With Beacon, we can:
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See where the need is greatest
Beacon helps identify geographic areas where unowned cats are concentrated and where unaltered cats remain.
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Prioritize the cats who will have the greatest impact
Because female cats drive population growth directly, Beacon helps us focus limited clinic space where it can prevent the most future litters.
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Forecast what happens next
Beacon allows us to model how populations may grow or decline depending on how many cats are altered, where we focus, and how quickly we act.
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Use clinic capacity more strategically
As we expand our ability to alter more cats, Beacon helps make sure that added capacity is directed where it will do the most good.
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Show our impact clearly
Beacon helps translate spay/neuter work into outcomes communities can understand: fewer kittens born outdoors, fewer cats entering shelters, more stable colonies, and better use of public and donor dollars.
Why this matters
Our mission is bold: to spay and neuter every unowned cat in Sonoma County.
Beacon helps make that mission more achievable.
It does not replace the hands-on work of trapping, transporting, surgery, recovery, and return. It strengthens that work by helping us focus our resources where they can create the greatest long-term change.
The result is a more humane, more strategic approach to population reduction.
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More cats altered.
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Fewer kittens born into hardship.
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Healthier colonies.
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Clearer outcomes.
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A faster path toward lasting change.
Built by Forgotten Felines
Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County has been doing this work since 1990 and has altered more than 60,000 cats.
Beacon grew out of that experience. It was created because we know that compassion and data do not have to be separate. When used together, they can help us save more lives and reduce suffering more effectively.
Beacon is our next step forward: a way to bring better information, better planning, and better results to the work of helping unowned cats.
Be part of what comes next
Beacon is still growing, and so is its potential.
With your support and input, we can continue expanding clinic capacity, improving our data, and using Beacon to guide smarter, faster, more humane population reduction across Sonoma County.
Together, we can change the future for unowned cats.
To get the latest updates on Beacon provide your email address and we will keep you informed on what’s new and how you can help contribute information so we can better track cat populations across Sonoma County.