Friendly Ferals Inc

Mary Tschinkel is an example of ruthless, heartless and greedy person that is getting grants from non-profit organizations but sells animal supplies that she gets for free. She disguise herself as cat lover but she is unkind and does not care about creatures or people. Killing cat colonies is what she does if she is not milking the system and unsuspecting charity donors. You may see positive reviews from her peers that profit from her business but you never find the positive reviews from animal lovers or people who want to adopt pets.

SCAM! Simply put if you want to adopt and submit an application for a cat good luck getting considered. You aren’t even screened for a phone call you are just in the dark about the application status of the animal you’d like. Then if you reach out yourself for updates you are rudely shunned away. The application process is unfair and completely biased. Save yourself the time and adopt elsewhere.

We appreciate all the work that they do to help with cats. We adopted our cats from them and they have been really helpful in easing us in as first time cat adopters. We met Mary a few times in our local pet store as some cats are staying there and you can tell that the cats are loved and well taken care of until they find their new home.

Mary is a great person with a big heart. She helped me with spay & neuter of the 2 ferel kittens I rescued, and TNR'g the rest of the strays in the brood. Am GLADLY DONATING to her organization and am encouraging my friends, family & co-workers to do the same.

I had a terrible experience with their adoption event today (6/30/19) in Astoria, NY and would caution others. My mother and I have been animal lovers all our lives and my 60y/o mother has been living alone for up to the past 10yrs since her last pet died of old age. I wanted to get her a kitten and with her approval, she requested to adopt one at their adoption event. They arrived 2hrs late but I figure it was worth the wait. I pointed out the one i wanted and she stated that a family wanted them however the family had to get approval from their mother and left. The head person (name rhymes with "Herta"). So the store owner was insisting that she agree to give me the kitten since the family has not returned for 2hrs and agreed. We switched contact details and took my aplication. This was for my mother who lives in the Bronx and agreed to do home visit and deliver the kitten the next day. I left to get my car and returned to the petshop store to pick up supplies and was notified that the kitten that was presumably for my mother was given to the family who return 2 hrs later. When I confronted "Herta", she said "Look I rather give it to them bcs your mother is 60y/o and she can die tomorrow". I have never been so insulted plus she has no business sense bcs she obviously don't know that your business is as good as your integrity (if you commit and agreed on something, you follow through). At least have the decency to call me and say it did not work out! This is bad business ethics folks, beware, "Herta" is very judgemental and whoever is her boss should be present when she works to insure proper adoption transaction. Things happen for a reason, i will be going to the well known adoption societies, i bet it would be more professionally done.

Despite the fact that a multitude of animal organizations both large and small exist in and around New York City, I personally found it daunting to actually get someone to offer me hands on assistance with TNR. That was until the organization ‘Neighborhood Cats’ referred me to ‘Friendly Ferals’ a year and a half ago. First Mary, at that time and just recently Berta brought their compassion and knowledge of handling ferals into my life. I am already eternally grateful that they have helped me spay and neuter three kittens in 2017 and a kitten and a pregnant mommy just recently. It takes time, patience, effort, remarkable dedication and of course the love of animals to do what they do. Anyone reading this already knows it’s not enough to just offer food to strays (and very few people care enough to even do that) but the continuous problem of animals reproducing without restraint is often lethal to most of the animals and a pathetic reflection on any neighborhood where people care so little for life they simply allow this to continue. Thank God for ‘Friendly Ferals’ who in their determined and devoted way make an important impact on a problem that’s already been too long ignored.
Barbara L.

Mary's work for the cats is immense. The service she provides is 200 percent dedication.

For the past 18 months, I have been trying to get someone to help me TNR. A few people would take all my information, tell me they would call back, but never did. I called Friendly Ferals one morning, and 30 minutes later MARY CALLED ME BACK! I explained I had 4 Mama cats (all were pregnant within months of each other) , and 10 kittens, and THE BIG DADDY (Mary so lovingly nicknamed, Mr. Testicles) she is a riot! She came to my house at 3:00 the same day, by 8:30 that night we had 13 trapped, the next morning, the last 2. 2 days later they were all neutered/spayed and back in my yard. I am so relieved, I was getting so nervous, thinking about the spring time. So,,,, MARY THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Susan

It's been about a year since little Moe came into my life. He was rescued along with his Tuxedo siblings, Enie and Meenie, by Mary of Friendly Ferals. She brought them into her home, cared for them and nurtured them in their earliest weeks. Moe turned out to be the most sociable, well adjusted cat I've ever had.

If it were not for the work that Mary and those like her do, what would happen to these fragile little lives?

Thanks much for all that you do.

Its been nearly 4yr since we got our cat Tango, He is the joy of our family , We called and spoke with Ms.Mary who gave us "Tango she really picked the perfect cat for us. Tango is wonderful,handsome.cute loves to be held and played with. Tango is the heart of our home.Thanks to Ms Mary and all the help she gives to help these wonderful pets.

For years I didn't know where to turn. My cat colonly was growing, I had 24 with pregant moms. God sent me Mary. In one day she trapped 20. She was tireless going back and forth . Her Truck could not hold all the cages. You can call her anytime,she was always on the road, she would come. She got the 4 kitten a few days later. Mary got them homes. All she cares about is HER CATS. Every one is home and I don't have to worry about kittens being born this winter. No one is like Mary. I consider her a friend now. I would offer her help anytime she needs it. It been a couple of months since the cats were fixed. Yesterday she showed up with 4 houses for them unexpected. the cats love them.

Mary and her team are number one in my eyes. Mary is truly devoted to helping the lives of so many animals. She tends to each of their needs with all the care in the world. I have adopted three kitties from her and wish I could take more. These three are the most lovely and friendly kitties I have ever had the pleasure of adding to my family. When they were sick Mary never hesitated in helping me and sending me the vet to handle the problem. Mary even had my kitties vaccinated and neutered as to not create more of a cat problem. I am so proud and happy to have met Mary. God bless you and all the great work you do.

Mary Tschinkel answered a call for help when no one else would or could. A complaint came in to a NYC official about a cat overpopulation, and Mary with an efficiency unmatched in TNR, spay/neutered the entire colony in question. Her organization is deserving of high praise in a time when compassion and action are both needed. She delivers and she cares! I hope that her organization receives the support they need to continue this great service to our city!

Mary Tschinkel, founder of Friendly Ferals has been my mentor in learning how to TNR and how to care for feral colonies. She has helped so many people in NYC, it is truly amazing. I have learned so many trapping techniques from her. She has saved the lives of so many kittens and cats and has given hope to ordinary people who feed and care for cats in the streets. She is all about the cats, and for improving their changes for a better life in the street. I recently participated in an ASPCA spay day where she coordinated the spaying and neutering of 71 cats, in one single day! If this is not a sign of her dedication I don't know what is! Because of her work I go the extra mile myself in educating people about TNR and in doing the physical work that is involved. When I am feeling tired I just think of her somewhere doing the work. It immediately inspires me to keep at it. She deserves a grant or something to help keep the worry from her work, and to help with the costs she incurs without reimbursement. Even a little grant would help her tremendously because she knows exactly what she needs to help more. Her experience in TNR enables her to envision how she can improve the work she already does. Thank you Mary.

I've worked with Mary for the past year and I've seen that she does more than many large nonprofit organizations. I TNR about 350 cats a year, but Mary does many more. She gets the job done no matter how big it is. More importantly, she organizes other trappers like myself and helps us get spay/neuter spots and helps do transport. She is a staunch supporter of trap-neuter-return and counsels other trappers in how to do TNR and the psychological issues that come with that. I wish that Mary had more financal backing because she could do so much more.

I first met Mary about a year ago when I worked with her on TNR-ing an out-of-control colony in my neighborhood in Forest Hills. We had 21 cats done and the process went seamlessly due to Mary's expertise. She was even able to find homes for some of the socialized kitties. After that I TNR-d a couple of other colonies in the area and was only able to do so thanks to Mary's generosity in letting me use her recovery space. The operation she runs is amazingly organized and I cannot say enough good things about what she is doing for the feral cats of New York City!

Mary was an enormous help with a feral that was outside my apartment, and which non of the other numerous local shelters would take. She not only agreed to take the cat and have it fixed and given a rabies shot, she agree to treat the cat for after care (since I was not allowed to have the cat in my building). In thanks, I did some volunteer work for her and I was stunned at the enormous amount of work and money she personally donates to this cause. She not only goes out personally to capture the cats and kittens for TNR, she holds up to sixty cats and kittens (maybe more) in her basement, which she feeds, medicates, and provides fresh litter for at least twice a day (and cleaning all those cages, litter boxes, and food dishes is no small job). She also is enormously kind to the kittens and cats, I don't know where she gets the time or energy to do all she does, but the community owes her an enormous debt for all her work.

I cannot say enough about Mary and all she does for the community. So many people like me want to help these poor animals but don't have the knowledge or the ability to TNR. Mary comes through with flying colors, sets everything up, and is very kind and pleasant to deal with. Fixing these feral cats is the right thing to do both for the cats and the community. Friendly Ferals Inc is amazing. Beth

Mary is an ace at TNR with cats. She helped me out with 3 cats and my girlfriend with about 7 cats. She has also provided TNR service for the NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation facilities where many stray cats gather to be fed and breed thus increasing the population in the parks. Mary is an animal lover and keeps her basement immaculate where the cats are kept and cared for after trapping. She is very pleasant and very organized and has a great crew of volunteers that contribute their time for such an important service. She runs this service 24/7 pretty much and her heart is totally dedicated.

In the summer of 2008 Mary and Berta TNRed 13 cats in my elderly mother's backyard when no one else would. Over two days they got 13 of the 15 cats we know about, a few from across the street, and a couple litters of kittens. They were great. Since then, my mother became gravely ill and passed away. During that period there was no time to continue TNR efforts, and so we have had some births. But we will be calling on Friendly Ferals in the very near future to help out with the new cats. Thanks so much FF for all your help.

Mary has dedicated the basement in her house and a lot of her time to helping spay/neuter feral cats and adopt one that are socialized. She is generous and tries to do most of the work herself. She should be trusted and supported by everyone. she is a real animal rescuer.

Friendly Ferals has always been there for us as we try to keep the cat population under control in our Rego Park neighborhood. Mary is truly committed to the cause and we appreciate all the work she does for our community. Thank You!