El Paso Animal Services is rolling out a new education campaign this kitten season, all in an effort to save more lives and prevent potentially fatal “kit-nappings.”

Kitnapping is when kittens are prematurely separated from their mother who is their main source of health. This often happens when residents find a litter of kittens and immediately take them away. While many would likely respond in this similar matter, thinking they are helping, they are more than likely causing more harm than good, since mother cats provide their kittens the best chance at survival.

Since 2018, more than 10,000 vulnerable kittens have entered the Animal Services Center. Of these thousands, more than 1,300 died. This tragic loss of life is largely due to kittens failing to thrive, a result of not being provided full immunity and care that a mother cat offers.

Animal Services is addressing this issue through a social campaign aimed at educating and empowering residents to “Stop the Kitnapping.”

This campaign has an online and street marketing component. Information on kitnapping, and what to do if you find kittens, will be shared on Animal Services’ social media platforms and on a special savethekittensEP.com webpage. In addition, Animal Services’ mascot CeCe the Cat will be making appearances throughout El Paso in high-traffic areas. The mascot will be joined by a street team that will share quick facts with passerby’s, informing them about kitnapping and encouraging them to be involved in El Paso’s lifesaving mission.

The goal of the campaign is to reduce the number of kittens entering the shelter and the number of kittens that died in 2019 by ten percent. To learn more about Animal Services and the Stop the Kitnapping campaign, visit savethekittensEP.com or follow us on our social media platforms listed below.