2024 Annual Newsletter
Dear friends,
As another year comes to an end we take time to reflect: animal rescue is never easy but there are definitely times where we feel like we can take a breather, sit back and maybe even relax. Unfortunately 2024 was not one of those. We can say without a doubt that 2024 was one of the most challenging years we have had since we started in 1999. It has tested us, exhausted us, and even brought us to tears.
One of the biggest challenges this year for Katie's Place, as well as many other rescues, has been the sheer number of animals needing our help. We have been at capacity many times over the last twenty-five years, but for most of this year we've been at, and even over capacity. We have taken in approximately four hundred animals - one week our intake was twenty-four cats. We've spent a good portion of this year busting at the seams, and turned several "storage" areas into holding areas for the incoming animals. No one can say for sure, but we are suspicious that many of the animals being surrendered to rescues are those that were adopted during the pandemic. Shelters were emptied out while people were stuck at home, and when regular life was re-established, those animals became an inconvenience. Add to that a rise in housing costs, limited housing that accepts pets, increasing vet prices, and an unstable economy; well, it brought about the perfect storm, and the animal rescue community saw an unprecedented increase in pet surrenders and strays.
Katie's Place has a mandate to take in all animals that need us, and so we did, despite the fact that we had to use every spare square foot of space. It is easy to say "we can't help them all" but when you hear their story, see their face, and know their fate is in your hands, saying no is not an option. Our amazing volunteers stepped up like never before, dedicating extra hours, energy, and love to the cats. We cannot express adequately how amazing our volunteers are. We are hoping that the worst is behind us, and if the November IN/OUT Board is any indication of the upcoming months, then we are hopeful that in the coming year we will once again use our storage areas for storage.
UPGRADES, IMPROVEMENTS, AND GARBAGE
While we were cleaning up areas to provide extra space for incoming cats we decided to give our shelter a much needed face lift. So in May, when the weather was a bit nicer, we started by having the entire shelter painted on the inside. One of our volunteers formed a painting crew of co-workers at her place of employment and the re-do began. It was quite a challenge to move the cats around while rooms were being painted, and we have to admit that a cat or perhaps four may have ended up with a smear of paint on their fur.
Once the painting was completed we moved right onto the flooring. Again, not an easy task when you have so many cats needing to be moved or confined, but somehow in June our shelter was outfitted with all new flooring. The new floors really give the shelter a nice fresh look, and a nice fresh smell if you know what we mean.
Also in June Katie's Place finally received its very own garbage dumpster, which we have placed in our parking spot in the SPCA parking lot. Katie's Place had been without one for close to a year. We had been sharing the dumpster with the SPCA since we moved to this location, but unfortunately we were not able to do that anymore, and for many months our volunteers filled their cars and trucks with our garbage and drove it to the Transfer Station on River Road. It was a messy, costly, and physically challenging process. We never thought we would be so happy to get a dumpster, and when it arrived, trust us - many tears of happiness were shed!!
Talking of sheds (we know, it’s a stretch…), in August, and into September we added two large sheds to our property. With so many of our rooms converted into cat housing spaces out of necessity, we were quickly running out of storage, and with so many little lives to care for we have a lot of things to store. It was a massive undertaking as we had to level the ground and lay down gravel before we could construct the sheds. Due to the location of the sheds, the gravel had to be moved by wheelbarrows and our volunteers showed up and did all the heavy work without batting an eye. To top it all off one of our volunteers mentioned this project to someone, and in the end ALL the costs were covered by a very generous donation. We were left speechless.
In October we finished work on Ena's Alcove. This is a small area on our front porch that will be used as a safe outdoor space for cats, or an area for potential adopters to interact with cats away from all the activity in the shelter, or just a nice spot to sit and reflect on Ena and everything she did for us. Ena was a fellow cat rescuer who supported Katie's Place for many years, and although she is gone she will always be remembered by us.
FUNDRAISING, FRIENDS, AND GRANTS
For twenty-five years Katie's Place has existed as an entirely volunteer run organization that relies on the community for support. Over the years we've carried out all kinds of fundraisers - everything from bottle drives, to pub nights, pet pictures with Santa and many others. They are time consuming, but it's an amazing opportunity to meet our supporters, adopters and to help educate our community about important stuff like spay and neuter & keeping cats indoors, etc. .
This year we really leaned into the craft fair fundraisers and send our appreciation to the organiser of the events we attended who, as a Katie's Place supporter and adopter, generously gave us a free table each and every time. We thank also our crafty volunteers who created the beautiful products for us to sell. Their efforts helped raise thousands of dollars for the shelter. We plan to continue to participate in future craft fairs. They are a great way to raise funds, to meet the community, and to showcase our talented volunteers.
In May, Katie's Place Volunteers helped out at the Home Show as parking attendants for a generous donation from the Home Show organizers. From all accounts everyone had a good time and we will gladly do it again if asked. Another fundraiser this year was organized by our own "grounds person". She is landscaper extraordinaire, hardworking, super organized, and always on the move. For a donation, interested parties had yardwork done by her during the summer months. It is honestly one of the most unique fundraisers we have ever done.
In June, Katie's Place was once again the recipient of a Coquitlam Foundation Grant. The grant we applied for was set up by Sue, a woman who loved cats, and wanted to ensure that people with limited resources could keep their cats if vet costs became an issue. This is the third year we have received this grant and we are thankful to her and the Coquitlam Foundation on behalf of all the people who benefitted from it. Knowing that a senior citizen with limited funds can hold onto their beloved companion despite vet costs is all we need to let us know that it's so worth doing.
We also received a generous donation from the Maple Ridge Rotary Club on behalf of one of their members who had passed. This member was also a longtime supporter of Katie's Place, and a loving cat mom to a couple of Katie's Place cats. And then at Halloween, Katie's Place was the beneficiary of funds raised by the Alouette Cemetary display in Maple Ridge. This home has won several awards in the past for the best Halloween display. This year their fundraising efforts for us piqued the curiosity of the local media and we were featured on CBC Radio 'On The Coast' with Gloria Macarenko. This fundraiser runs from the beginning of October until the end of November. We stopped by to have a look and must say it was VERY impressive! We are 100% volunteer run and 100% donor/small grant funded, so actions like these mean so much to us.
INS, AND OUTS, AND SPECIAL MENTIONS
Needless to say, with so many cats coming and going, the silly moments, funny memories, and happy endings are numerous. Cats are never boring and whoever thinks they don't have personalities has obviously never met a cat. Every single day these animals make us smile, and remind us why we continue to do this heart wrenching, sometimes stomach churning, and almost always nerve wracking work. It is because they look at you as though the sun rises and sets with you, and you realize you would do anything to protect them.
In January we opened our doors to Bartley - a skinny, little orange boy with several health issues. He is tiny but feisty, and will easily take down any volunteer that tries to medicate him without discussing it with him first. He wants reassurances it will be quick and painless, and he expects treats right after. We did not hold out much hope for this frail little cat when he first came in, but here he is almost a year later having promoted himself to lead Hallway Hooligan and still giving the medicators a run for their money.
March saw the arrival of Howie Who. This guy came to us as his person was moving and could not take him. Howie is a handsome medium haired black cat who wakes up each morning and chooses to drive us crazy. It's not that he is a bad cat, it's just that he refuses to stay in his room. We would have named him Houdini but that name was already taken. Howie manages to escape no matter how closely you watch him, or the door, or both. He just runs through the shelter laughing as we scramble behind him. One day soon we know Howie will find his person, and then THEY can chase him all over the place.
Gadwall was dropped off at the shelter without any notice because his family was going on vacation. He is a rambunctious guy who is so obsessed with canned food he will literally fly at you from any perch to knock it out of your hands so he can steal it. He knows he'll get some, but the thrill of stealing it is as much fun for him as eating it. Gadwall is handsome, and young, and playful and deserves way better than a family who hadn't factored him into their vacation plans.
We continue to support other rescues and continue to take in cats they can no longer care for. Windy and Chime are two semi feral cats that came to us because they were not thriving at another rescue. Weatherly arrived because he needed too much attention, and Pendragon came to us from another rescue because he was too scared. Boeing and Northrop, two handsome gray and white cats, came to us from a rescue in Hope. Dory, Charlie, Chungus, and Bullwinkle arrived on a small plane from Fort St. John. Then in June, we took in ten cats from one hoarding situation, five from another and three from one more. They were all between one and three years old, and all unfixed. In August we awaited the arrival of three kittens from an "overcrowded" home, and were very surprised when nine showed up. We took them all in, and also fixed all the remaining cats in the home.
On the flip side this year we said farewell to Omaha, who took his little butt and moved it all the way to the Kootenays. Apparently it took him a day and a half to forget us, and we could not be happier to know that. In May Emerance, our seventeen-year-old gal, finally found her forever home. Emerance was known to sit at the hallway window and scream at us, for hours if need be, for her canned food. There was no limit to how many "helpings" she had in a day, and she would get offended if you told her she'd had enough. Laohu, also known as the "most interesting cat in the world" also found his forever family. Laohu resided in the hallway and was one of the most ridiculously photogenic cats we've ever known (just don't tell the others we said that).
We also sent some of our shy felines to live out their lives on properties with barns. Some cats just prefer to keep humans at arm's length, and we completely understand that preference. Sometimes we feel the same way. In March Gator, Gorp, Jean and Ayr moved into their new barn home to live out their lives in peace, with fresh air, and some barn animal friends. Puma, Panda and Penguin were three very shy siblings that were not interested in ever sitting on a lap, and they went to live in an awesome barn in August. Finally, our bonded buddies Jericho, Neumond, Nutrino, and Harvest Moon moved to a beautiful hobby farm barn in September.
Finally, on a sad note, we also said goodbye to some of our long-term residents this year. Torti came to us all the way from Afghanistan. She was very shy, but because she had ongoing health issues, we could not send her out as a barn cat. She was with us for about two and a half years, and near the end of her journey she finally decided we weren't so bad and allowed us to pet her. She was a tiny little tortoiseshell with a big personality, and we will never forget her. Willie was a relatively young cat that came to us with bladder leakage issues. Willie lived out his short life with us and we loved him dearly. He was silly, and playful, and liked hanging on the screen of the door to his room. Duke, who was with us for over three years, was the unofficial manager, supervisor, and CEO of Katie's Place. He washed dishes with Marzipan, did paperwork with Springer, assisted with laundry with Dieppe, and ensured that every cat in the entire shelter got their treat. Duke was one of a kind and his spirit is still with us.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND ALL THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR
So that was our year. This December 1st we are held a Volunteer Appreciation Event not only to celebrate the Season, but also to thank the volunteers for all the extra effort they put in this year. We are keeping our fingers, and toes, and even eyes crossed that 2025 will be a much easier year. We hope more animals will leave our shelter than come into it. We hope that rescues can breathe a sigh of relief. We hope that cats like Tzatziki, who has been with us for six years, and Corporal Truelove, who has been with us for almost four years, can finally find their forever families.
And with that we say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We wish you all love, and hope, and happiness. Thank you so much for your support. Without you there would be no Katie's Place, and without Katie's Place where would cats like Willie, and Omaha, and Duke go?
Thank you all and to all a good night.
