Welcome to 2015!

Anyone else look like this for New Year's? That was us.

Episode here.

Did we miss it?!
It's 10:00.
What?
It's only 10:00.    

We did, in fact, get a slight dusting of snow, and in the morning some definite frost.

Photo by: Larry Moyse

I have to admit that it was pretty with the snow on the mountains (Michael took these photos from the roof of his resort).



But it was really cold (high 29s at night/40s during the day). Even the cats thought so, seeking warmth from the windows or my bathrobe (4 cats on a typical morning) - we keep the thermostat at 70. Yes, they're wimps too.




We spent two weekends in playing Cribbage. Some people get lethargic when it gets too hot out. I'm more lizard-like. Once it's cold, I go into slow motion. Some might even say hibernation. What I did do was volunteer to go nab some kitties from the kill shelter in Pima County, Tucson to take back to Fearless Kitty Rescue. The rescue takes in a lot of cats from the local community by request, but they also want to save more from euthanasia. So four of us set off to pull five kitties. There are 14 carriers in that vehicle. Hmmm.

And we're off for the 2-hour (each way) road trip!



I wasn't sure how this experience was going to be. I want to save them all, so am I going to feel badly when we have to leave some behind? It turned out to be a pretty upbeat affair. There is actually a shortage of cats & kittens in some of the shelters at the moment (some, but by no means all), and this was one place that wasn't overflowing either. As a matter of fact, they were pretty much giving away cats while we were there.



You may wonder why we chose this shelter then. At the moment, Fearless only has agreements with the AZ Humane Society and Pima County Animal Control. It's a surprisingly complicated process to "apply" to these shelters, plus Fearless has only so much room, but Maricopa and Pinal Counties are on the radar for partnerships at some point too. Believe me, there are plenty of cats that need homes and are being put down, but you save as many as you can. Luckily, there are other organizations trying to do what Fearless is doing, and hopefully between everyone, we can slowly make this problem go away. Or Fearless might keep expanding until they're as big as their partner, Best Friends Animal Society in Utah, and find a way to find forever homes for all homeless kitties! Well, a girl can dream. Ok, where were we?



We were looking for nonaggressive cats (they have to get along with the kitties already in Kittyville), and couldn't be too ill. Fearless can handle some easily fixable health cases, like look at these two adorable kittens that came in with eye issues (Wink, left, was recently adopted; Ragetti still needs to fatten up so he can be neutered and already has an interested party):



But they don't have the resources to take in someone like this guy, Miles, who was diagnosed with cancer. That's the co-founder of Fearless showing him some love though.

The good news is that Pima County was treating him, and in fact, Miles was adopted a few days later. Yay! (Yes, Fearless followed up, concerned. Why I volunteer for them.)

We were picking up cats and engaging with them to see how they'd do in Kittyville and that drew a lot of attention from the public. As soon as we'd decide a cat had possibilities, we'd go to look at a few others only to discover that some of the previous kitties we unofficially chose were adopted out from under us. This was a good thing, of course. There was lots of cheering going on.



You never know what you'll find at a shelter. Here was a friendly 6-toed (polydactyl) kitty we thought was cool. He was whisked away to his forever home post haste.



We chose about 10 cats - there were no kittens available - and ended up with 7 total once all the paperwork was done and a couple were weeded out for various reasons (lack of testing, 24-hour hold, etc.).



Seriously, to be able to take them from a cage and a very uncertain future...



...to a free-roaming facility, with high chances of a vetted adoption (and no chance of being put down) is pretty darn invigorating. The kitties even get glamour shots taken. Bonus!  :-)



Sam above. Phoebe below.


Getting pictures of the cats is always quite the process. Michael came over and acted as wrangler, I tried to make them "smile," and Jon, the photographer, tried to get the perfect shot. That took 3 hours, not including Jon's time sorting through the pictures and getting them on the website. Then all the social media sites had to be updated: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Adoptapet, Petfinder. Yes, that task took me 11 hours... Others jump in and get the animals to their vet appointments, do paperwork, clean, spend time with them to make sure they're acclimating okay with all the other Kittyville residents, or simply spend time cuddling with them.

Add all the day-to-day activities from fund/grant raising (including holding/attending events, running/stocking the boutique, asking for donations, etc.), bill paying, building maintenance, training, fostering, and community outreach, and it most certainly takes a village...and lots of time/money...but it's worth it.

By the way, Fearless is always looking for volunteers, so if you think you want to spend a few hours with some kitties, you can contact them here.

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While we're still in limbo regarding a possible Caribbean move, some great news is that it's supposed to be 80 degrees today here in good ol' Arizona. I'm alive! I'm alive! Time to go on a hike.