Forest Hill Friends Page

06/04/2026

please read!

Well say it AGAIN and AGAIN
FOR those in the Back!

🚨 PLEASE STOP "RESCUING" FAWNS 🚨

We know your heart is in the right place.

Every spring, kind and caring people come across a tiny fawn lying quietly alone in the grass and assume it's been abandoned. The urge to help is completely understandable.

But the truth is...

That fawn is almost certainly exactly where it's supposed to be.

Mother deer intentionally leave their babies hidden for long periods while they feed nearby. The fawn's job is to stay still, stay quiet, and wait. Mom's job is to stay away until it's safe to return.

Unfortunately, we see the heartbreaking consequences of unnecessary "rescues" every year.

Healthy fawns are taken from the wild and brought to rehabilitators dehydrated, stressed, malnourished, injured from improper handling, or suffering from aspiration after being fed the wrong things. Some don't survive the stress alone. Others lose the chance to be raised by the one creature best equipped to care for them—their mother.

If a fawn is curled up quietly, appears alert, and has no obvious injuries, please leave it alone.

Do not touch it.
Do not feed it.
Do not move it.
Do not pose for photos with it.

The greatest act of kindness is often doing nothing at all.

However, if the fawn is continuously crying for hours, wandering aimlessly, covered in flies, visibly injured, weak, or has ears that are curled and dehydrated, then it's time to contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator immediately.

Please help us spread the word. Share this post. Talk to your friends and neighbors.

Every fawn that stays with its mother has the best possible chance at life.

Sometimes the best rescue... is no rescue at all. 🦌❤️

06/02/2026

4//13/26: I received a little gifty from feeder Rocco on this day. A fearless, friendly little guy who was the last one left behind after someone dumped a litter of kittens near one of Rocco's feeding spots, and unknown folks snapped up the rest. I got started with him, deworming and feeding, and cleaning his little butt because every day he seemed to have a big p**p boulder stuck to him.

I felt he wasn't eating vigorously enough and he wasn't gaining weight, so I brought him for a look-see at my great vet Animal Care of Oradell, LLC. Wouldn't you know they would immediately kidnap him so that the staff could look after him more thoroughly? They immediately changed his name from Bear to Noodle to Cubby and who knows what else. They got him fully kick-started on his feeding and Docs Hurst and May even had the nerve to take him home on the weekend, and now they've only let me look at him once since then because he has become a member of their family.

I guess I couldn't wish for any better outcome!

06/01/2026

4/9/26 (belated again!): Alert and caring neighbor Francisco found a friendly gray kitty on a dangerously busy bridge/roadway over the park and managed to carry her some distance home before contacting me. I picked her up and scanned her, found a microchip, got all the information and reached out to the registered phone number 2 or 3 times. I also scoured PawBoost, Ring Neighbors app and NextDoor. No one appeared to be looking for her. Her address of origin is not so terribly far away but it seems highly doubtful she made her way to that bridge on her own. More likely, it seems she was probably left in the park and walked up out of there onto the street.

She's a beauty. I held her for longer than the required holding period and updated her vaccines, confirmed her spay status, and had her tested.

James and Francisco were planning to foster her which I very much appreciated, but some kitty conflicts made that impossible -- which I totally get! So she's back with me but will probably be highly desirable to someone looking for a beautiful new companion. As she's in the witness protection program, she has a new moniker, Shayna -- because she really is a Shayna Maidel.

05/04/2026

The bigger picture

What happens when a rescuer steps back and asks: why isn't this scaling?

Stacy sits down with Will Zweigart, the mind behind Flatbush Cats and the investigative podcast Underfoot, for a conversation that challenges everything we think we know about sustainable animal welfare.

Will's background in strategy and communications led him to a bold conclusion: rescue alone can't solve the urban cat crisis. Real, lasting change requires affordable veterinary access, high-volume spay/neuter services, municipal accountability, and smart policy advocacy. That thinking led to the launch of Flatbush Vet, which performed over 7,000 surgeries in a single year.

This episode goes far beyond storytelling. It's a blueprint for nonprofits, advocates, and anyone who wants to think bigger about what's possible for cats and communities by 2035.
If you're ready to move from reaction to strategy, this one is for you.

🎧 Listen now: https://communitycatscentral.com/episode-622-will-zweigart/

05/02/2026

We need to buy a fresh gallon of Rescue, a veterinary-grade disinfectant that handles fungus, viruses, bacteria, etc. It costs $60. We use it to sanitize equipment between residents.

Also, darling Posey, a longish-term foster, is finally in the pipeline for a dental procedure later this month. Her bloodwork to clear her for anesthesia was $100. And then we can send her off for adoption with confidence!

If you are able to help us by chipping in for these items, we'd appreciate it!

-www.paypal.com (use friends and family to avoid fees) to [email protected]
-zelle to 201-306-2769
-cashapp to $ForestHillFriends
-check payable to Forest Hill Friends, PO Box 110218, Nutley NJ 07110
We are a 501(c)(3) organization and your donations are tax-deductible.
We also accept gift cards: Petsmart, Chewy, Petco.

05/02/2026

4/7/26: One night after Archie, another dude was trapped in the same spot. He just got named for the address, since it seemed he was feral and he would get his surgery using Essex County funds. White with brown tabby markings, I realize now he's one that's been seen over and over again on neighbor Spencer's videos, often looking into my basement windows. I wish I had given him a few more days to really be sure he wasn't going to show a friendly side. He just wasn't responding to the usual assessment overtures, so, sadly...

And now I just wish he would feel comfortable coming back and having a meal here. I want him to know he's welcome. My feral shelters are vacant since my old crew left this earth one at a time.

Oh, and by the way, this fellow went into the trap again a few days later. Guess it wasn't that traumatic.

Have alerted all local colony caretakers to keep eyes open for him.

05/02/2026

4/6/26: Neighbor Spencer's been cat-spotting on his videos for months. We're having trouble keeping track of exactly whom we are seeing, and when. So I've been setting traps when time permits, somewhat randomly. I keep thinking we are waiting for a long slender white and black. YET, on this night, a sleek, muscular, young tuxedo (more black than white) appeared, caught. And he's one we've never seen before!

Definitely a friendly guy, if a bit wired and fidgety. Handsome as heck! Needs his surgery! Waiting for our Preventive Paws appointment!

05/02/2026

4/4/26: Highland Avenue neighbors were out for a walk one evening and heard meowing...followed by finding the source of the sound: this approximately 4-month-old female I'm calling Jodie (after one of her discoverers). She's plenty personable and actively engaging. Just waiting now for the logistics to click in for her spay surgery, vaccines and testing! Nice find!

03/27/2026

3/21/25: My friends at The Community FoodBank of New Jersey take terrific care of their parking lot colony in Hillside, and they noticed an unfamiliar face in the crowd and got in touch. I didn't see him at first but finally he appeared with his long muscular body, and kind of gave me the runaround for a bit. I was starting to think I might need to make a Plan B. But then suddenly -- HE WAS IN!

People For Animals did a great job on his surgery and vaccines, and they treated his facial wound with a shave/flush and a long-lasting antibiotic injection. I feel confident he'll heal up great.

I released him a couple days later. Oh, and by the way, while he was out, the folks at CFBNJ realized there's ANOTHER new black boy on site with a wound as well! So I'll have to be going back sometime soon.

02/06/2026

HELP US!

Join expert instructors to master TNR and colony management. Learn how to trap, communicate with neighbors, manage colonies, and provide shelter. Includes real-life videos, handouts, certificate of attendance, and access to a dedicated networking group.