A couple weeks before graduation, we noticed a cat had somehow gotten into our garage. I wasn’t entirely sure if it could get out, so I started feeding it and leaving it some water while I found a live trap. When my husband found out, he tried scaring it off before I could get one and thought he’d succeeded.

When I graduated, we discovered the cat was still there, much to my dismay. I borrowed a trap from a very generous friend. When we finally caught him, a sweet black cat, we knew we couldn’t care for him. We already have three cats, and the holidays are wild. Thankfully, we knew we could take him to one of the most trustworthy organizations I know of, the Animal Humane Society. Since then, he has been adopted.

Adopted Kitties

We have a history with the local Humane Society. Two of our current kitties were adopted from them. They do amazing work with animals in their care, whether they’re surrendered, brought in as strays as our rescue cat was, or rescued from hazardous situations. Both our families have adopted dogs from them in the past as well.

Both the kitties we’d adopted were from unwanted litters. Our big black cuddle-bug of a kitty was healthy, but around six months old, when we adopted him. Our tuxedo kitty had some medical problems, though. We’d adopted him as a tiny kitten, and he had already been treated for ear mites and a respiratory infection. He is one of the smartest, sweetest cats I’ve ever known. Without the hard work of the Humane Society, I don’t want to think what would have happened to either of them.

Rescue Readers
I could go on about all the amazing things they do, but I’ll close with one of their programs that is close to my heart, Rescue Readers (https://www.animalhumanesociety.org/education/rescue-readers). Literacy is one of the most important issues out there for me. When students I tutored asked me how they could improve their English skills, I replied that they need to read and write as much as possible. It’s a learned skill, and they’ll only improve with practice. This is a great way to do that.

I had originally thought this was only for children, but I now see it’s for readers of all ages. If you love animals and want to try improving your reading skills, check this out. I might sign up this year. We may not be able to adopt another animal, but I love hanging out with animals of all kinds. Hey, it could be a fun way to proofread my work out loud. I doubt they’d judge my mistakes too harshly.

The work they do is why I decided to feature them for January’s charity. If you can support them, please donate, but if not? Read up on what they do and spread the idea of adopting animals instead of shopping for them.

This entry is part of a monthly series of charity features. I have no affiliation with any of these organizations outside of donating and supporting their work.