Jennifer – Animal Rescuer & Passionate Advocate

I am a animal lover and advocate. I have 5 cats of my own and any additional paws that might be running around that I foster for UL.  I was on Craigslist and saw a ad that foster homes were needed for a rescue group that was UL. I emailed, filled out an application and within that week Lisa came over and I started fostering a mama cat and her baby. That was in 2006 and here we are today. I couldn't be any prouder to be associated with such a wonderful rescue group and a wonderful group of people.

I foster because I believe that the animals that are brought into shelters or whatever circumstances have brought them to me, deserve the opportunity to fight for them. They deserve the chance to find that perfect home where they will be loved and respected for the rest of their life. UL gives the animals that chance and also brings the awareness to the public through adoption fairs and educating others by sharing their stories and expertise.

I have learned that no matter how hard life has been for some of the animals, they still have all the love to offer us in return. I would rather offer my love and support than to live with the knowledge that I didn’t try to help. Since I have the space and time, I will continue to foster as long as am I am needed.

One of my foster kitties, Romeo, was trapped at my work. We do not know his history or why such a young cat was wandering around a car lot alone, fending for whatever food  and shelter he could find. I tried to catch him a month earlier with no luck; the food I left out for him was not even being touched. Then I had heard that he was back and was following a few of the sales people, they were giving him scraps of food. I  brought him food and fed him for a couple of days, then I got a trap from Unconditional Love on Oct 31st. Romeo finally walked into the trap and I brought him home.

I thought for sure this cat was feral as he went crazy when I put him in the bathroom. Due to the chaos of trying to get him situated in the bathroom with food/ water and all the necessities a young kitty might desire, he escaped and was running up the walls and going crazy. Finally, I was able to maneuver him back into the bathroom, where he hid behind the toilet. Hissing and scared, I figured him for a feral cat. I was scared to try to pet him, after about one day I got enough nerve to pet him. Well that's when things changed, he started to purr and I couldn't resist this little guy. He finally trusted me and I cleaned him up got him all situated. Thanks to Unconditional Love, they agreed to make him a foster kitty and get him checked and adopted. Unfortunately, his test results came back positive for Feline Leukemia. What a blow!  Lisa from UL called and I knew something was up, Lisa decided to do another test that required the blood to be mailed and the results would take a couple of days, well those too came back positive. With a house full of healthy cats where do we put a Felv positive kitty? Here you work so hard to rescue, is it the right thing to euthanize a kitty that has Felv who is currently perfectly healthy?

I contacted Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, they were full and provided me with a list of rescue groups/websites to contact for help. I posted Romeo on a few websites for Felv cats and also posted him on Craigslist. In the meantime, Romeo stayed with me in the bedroom, secluded from the other kitties. Romeo was perfectly healthy and very active. What a LOVE bug, If I could I would have kept him. We decided to bring him to the  adoption fairs, we knew that the right person would come along for Romeo. Well our prayers were answered. A wonderful lady inquired about Romeo and she happened to be a special-needs person who was perfect for Romeo. I’d done my share of crying and wondering what would happen to this wonderful kitty who deserved the best we could offer him; then his perfect home presented itself.

This is what makes fostering and rescue so worth all the time and sometimes hard cases. I wouldn't have changed anything. I am thankful I had the home to provide Romeo and he now has a place to call home and the love he deserves vs. the alternative of a harsh environment living outside and trying to survive while being sick. Romeo is the perfect example of why I foster for UL. Without UL, Romeo would not be where he is today.

Some of our other fosters include Bella, who now lives with us as a family member. Hollywood was adopted by a wonderful home. And Athena is being adopted by my sister-in-law. These are just a few of the wonderful animals we have been able to foster and give them a second chance at love and happiness.

All it takes to foster a cat or dog is an extra room in your home and lots of love. The rest takes care of itself.