Who We Are & History

Since opening, SAFE Haven has orchestrated the adoptions of more than 9,359 cats and kittens and spayed or neutered more than 26,000 cats, kittens and small dogs in our clinic.

During the last fiscal year, 864 cats and kittens were adopted; 2,958 cats, kittens and small dogs were sterilized in our clinic; 405 animals were fed through our Pet Food Pantry; and 350 cats were temporarily housed in 45 foster care homes. We rescued 47 cats from natural disasters and took 276 cats from the Wake County Animal Shelter and other traditional county shelters.

The shelter began in the two-car, heated and air-conditioned garage of founder/President Pam Miller. SAFE Haven’s first 400 cats were adopted from that garage. Five years later, SAFE Haven moved to a larger facility in a business center on Durant Road in Raleigh, opening the Triangle’s first permanent no-kill shelter for cats. In 2001, the SAFE Care Spay/Neuter Clinic was opened, a major initiative. At that time, it was the only freestanding clinic for cats in North Carolina. In 2012 SAFE Haven launched a pet food pantry to supply food on a temporary basis to low-income households in danger of having to give up their companion animals. SAFE Haven has expanded twice and now occupies rental space in two buildings: one space for the adoption center; the other for the spay/neuter clinic.

SAFE Haven gets no government funds and relies entirely on individual and corporate donors, grants and its own fund-raising initiatives, including a 5K race and in the spring, the Tuxedo Cat Ball. SAFE Haven spends 83 percent of its annual budget on its programs and services. Only 17 percent goes to administrative costs. SAFE Haven is also the recipient of $255,000 (yearly) in donated time from 70 volunteers per week.