Kitty Commando Award

Jane has been one of our close friends and allies from the very beginning. Our relationship goes all the way back to 2012, when Jane was a volunteer for Euclid Pet Pals. In 2018, Jane became our first official foster coordinator. She fosters kittens, often the sickest ones, assists at adoption events, and supports our fosters to have the best possible outcome for the cats and kittens in their care. Jane no longer manages our foster program because she took on a different role. In 2019, the Foster Emergency Fund was created. Jane funds and manages this essential program. We have lost track of how many cats and kittens this fund has assisted over the years. Let’s just say that without this fund, there are many that wouldn’t be here today.

Tony and Jean are the Dynamic Duo when it comes to “Fighting the Good Fight”. What began back in 2016 as a simple TNR job at their business, turned into an amazing opportunity for us. In 2018, Tony and Jean had a litter of 5 kittens dumped at their workplace and they reached out to us for help. Because we didn’t have any available fosters at the time, we asked if they could possibly foster them for us. They said yes and the rest is history! They have been fostering ever since. Tony turned one of their trailers into what is our Mobile Adoption Center. He custom designed and built the cages inside to take our adoptions on the road. You will find him at a number of events throughout the year. Most weekends, you will find Jean at one of our partner PetSmart stores assisting with adoption events and managing the Adoption Center at our Mentor location. They have generously offered the use of a storage space to house the Lake County half of a cat shelter project that launches this fall, in partnership with Kate Grigsby and Community Cat Coalition of Ashtabula County. They will make sure kitties are safe and warm “One Cat at a Time!”.

Catherine Messina exhibits all the characteristics of a true Kitty Commando. She always puts the needs of the cats first. Catherine approached us in 2017 when the apartment complex where she resides threatened eviction for residents that were feeding cats. At the time, there were several people feeding, the cats were everywhere, and reproducing. In a coordinated effort, management allowed us to start a TNR project with Catherine as the designated feeder. Funds were raised by residents, traps were set and so it began…One year later all of the cats were neutered and the colony was stabilized, NO kittens! Catherine oversees her colony like any Italian mother would. You can find her any day sitting on her tree stump chair imploring her charges to eat. You can almost imagine her yelling “Mangia!”