During my first visit to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in 2009 I realized that my passion and mission was to either work with or help cats in some way. Initially I thought I was being called to work as a cat caregiver at Best Friends in Utah, and for two years I hoped and prayed that my life’s path would be directed that way. However, in 2011 a group of 7 stray cats showed up near our home. We had lived there for nearly 12 years and only seen a handful of stray cats around our neighborhood in all that time, but then suddenly a group of 7 appeared! It was then I realized that yes, I am supposed to work with and help cats, but not in Utah. I was needed right here in my own community. That is why Paws4Life, Inc was formed. – Patty
Currently our rescue group is foster-based, which means we do not have a central facility to house our feline friends. We would love to someday have such a facility so we can increase our capacity, centralize resources, and take in more cats at a time, plus allow volunteers who cannot foster to be able to care for the cats and work with them until they are ready for adoption. We plan to use a portion of that space to focus on taking care of FIV+ cats, cats with special needs, and senior cats since they often have a very difficult time finding new homes.
Beyond rescuing and adopting, we have programs already underway and planned for the future that are designed to help the stray and feral cat community. Our current spay/neuter program named “CAT-ch Me If You Can” is limited in size and scope, but we look forward to expanding it so we can offer services to more caregivers of stray & feral cat colonies, as well as low-income pet owners. Also on the list are starting a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) program in our community, offering free education to the public about the importance of spaying & neutering and how to be a responsible pet owner, and starting a community pet food pantry to help low-income pet owners.
Despite all of our efforts at building trust and socializing the cats, a portion of the strays we come across unfortunately are truly feral and will never want to live in a home with humans. One of our goals is to have an area of land with an outbuilding where spayed & neutered feral cats can live out their natural lives safe inside cat-proof fencing while under our care.
In addition to searching for forever homes for our cats that are ready to be adopted, we are seeking additional volunteers who are willing and able to welcome foster cats into their home and are dedicated to helping them become well-adjusted family pets. Please visit our Fostering page to find out more.
Paws4Life, Inc. was founded on January 12, 2012 and is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Please speak with your tax adviser since some donations to our organization may be tax deductible.