Good Mews, Everyone!

It’s no secret how much I love animals, especially rescue animals. I got my first rescue pet when I was 5, when an orange tabby followed me home from a friends’ house. We found out the owners had just moved away and left him. In Arizona. When it was over 100 degrees outside.

Over the years I have owned only rescue animals and have done my share of helping to promote adopting rescue animals instead of getting animals from breeders. I created rescuepetsareawesome so people around the world could share their own stories about their rescue pets and most recently, I became a member of the Board of Directors for the Pasadena Humane Society. PHS is such an amazing organization that I donated to for years and am so proud to be able to do more for on a regular basis now.

In December of 2013, PHS opened a huge addition to the shelter; large classrooms for dog training, a supply store that puts the sales revenue right back into the care of the animals in the shelter, boarding and daycare facilities, a socialization yard, and most importantly, a state-of-the-art low-cost spay and neuter clinic which will help keep pet population down and significantly reduce the number of animals in need of homes. They also offer low-cost vaccinations and micro-chipping.

Pasadena Humane Society is over 100 years old (they used to take in animals AND children back in the day). The original building is still there, marked as a historical structure and now used for offices, and they have slowly expanded the facility and the staff as the need to care for animals (including wildlife) has now reached to 9 surrounding cities that they also service. With the newest addition to the shelter getting so much use for the care of dogs, they are now ready to move on to helping cats.

The area that PHS has to house cats currently is about 900 square feet. (I should point out that in the month of May alone, they adopted out over 100 dogs and 90 cats. The adoption turnover rate is incredibly high here.) The biggest problem with housing cats is how easy it is to spread upper respiratory infection among them. They are very careful in handling them and something I didn’t know, they keep bunnies that are also up for adoption in the same area because for whatever reason, bunnies stop the airborne spread of upper respiratory infection in cats. Who knew? The problem with cats is how many litters they bring into the world each year. Again, the spay and neuter clinic will help with that in the long run (they also have a catch and release spay and neuter program for feral cats because they are the ones having most of these litters) but the housing of the adoptable cat population need has been an issue.

Today, PHS is breaking ground on construction of a 4,000 square foot cat center. It’s going to have a nursery where volunteers will be able to feed and care for newborn kittens (currently, they have a foster program for this outside the shelter. One person can have a litter of 9 at one time to feed round the clock) large, air-controlled housing units to prevent the spread of infection, and a common play area for cats that are healthy who have been at the shelter for a while.

The construction will take a year but it makes me so happy that today will be the start of a new facility just for the kitties. I’ve had dogs and cats my whole life (I currently have 3 dogs and 2 cats) and I love them equally. To know PHS is doing as much as possible (they are a non-profit organization, completely run by donations) to not only care for animals in need now, but to provide services that will cut down on the population of so many animals in need of homes makes me so proud to be part of this organization.  I can’t wait to see this new addition when it’s done!!

8 thoughts on “Good Mews, Everyone!

  1. My roomie says it must be bunny farts that purify the air for the kitties! ;P

    On a serious note, this is wonderful news! Our local rescue group, Animal Haven (CT) has a kitty room which is so much fun to visit! It’s one thing to stick your fingers through the bars on a cage but a whole other experience to be able to sit down with some very friendly kitties to give lots of petting!

    Thank you for passing along this update! I’ll have to swing by for a visit next time I come home!

  2. You are awesome. You in inspired me to start donating monthly to my local shelter. And as soon as I can find time and get over some social anxiety I want to volunteer there.

  3. That is so great! Our animal shelter is currently raising funds to expand our cat area as well. I saw preliminary plans and I am so excited for the cats. If you ever make your way to Bend Oregon I’ll give you a full tour of our shelter and thrift store!

  4. Yay! I love it when the local shelters get to expand. I remember when the Oakland SPCA (now called East Bay SPCA I think) expanded from a ratty little place off the freeway to a beautiful new location. This is great news!

  5. So awesome! I think everywhere should have low cost spay/neuter and vaccine options. Some of the best animal people just cannot afford veterinary care but would otherwise provide wonderful homes for needy animals!! *points to self*

  6. That is great to hear Anne. I’ve been working with our local shelter, Spartanburg (SC) Humane Soc. and doing our best to get some funding to expand as we are at capacity most weeks. Adoption rate is above average here, thanks to pet stores and satellites helping promote and bring animals on site. Glad to hear it when shelters are able to grow and advance on site tech to assist with some of the most awesomist furry friends in the world.

    Keep up the incredible work.

  7. I’m a huge fan of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington (Virginia) trap/neuter/release program.

    Since I can’t possibly adopt all the cats I want, I volunteer my time and my apartment to foster kittens until they are large enough to adopt. Unlike most people, I don’t have any trouble giving them back when they reach 2 pounds (except the one I “failed” at fostering and adopted, Klaatu). I basically get to have kittens all the time and they leave before they learn to jump on the counters and start shedding. Life is good.

    I’m glad you get to broaden your love of animals by serving on the board. Have fun!

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