2024 Year End Review by FF Executive Director Jenn Hutchman
2024 Year End Review
by Furry Friends Executive Director, Jenn Hutchman
I hope this letter finds you and your Furry Friends happy and healthy! We have had many amazing things happen this year within Furry Friends and have saved a lot of kitties! As of this writing we have 115 kittens and 69 adults under our care, which is a record for us. We are also on track to break last year’s adoption numbers, creating another record for Furry Friends growth. To think we went from around 200 adoptions in 2019 to 700 this year is a crazy number to wrap your head around. Many things have contributed to this growth:
Leadership: What can I say? We have excellent leaders in our organization! We see the need and can envision the steps to meet the need for the cats in the PNW. We are governed by a board of seven working volunteer board members, we have only three paid employees that add to our stability, and we have several volunteer leaders that oversee assorted aspects of our operation. On top of that we have about 200 volunteers who make sure that all our day-to-day needs are met for the kitties.
Partnerships: We have created multiple partnerships with vet offices, veterinarians, alter clinics, other shelters/rescues, urgent/ER care, pet stores, and specialty hospitals to get the best care each cat and kitten may need. Through these partnerships we stay connected to the community and can spend donor dollars wisely.
Expanded Shelter Space: We do not believe in keeping cats in kennels for the duration of their stay at our shelter, so we have converted any useable space into kitty rooms. While we do have intake and scent sharing kennels the goal is to not have them in a kennel space longer than two weeks. With this and increased staff/volunteers our shelter can responsibly hold 40 cats at any given time.
Strong Programs: We have expanded our foster program to include adult kitties! This has enabled us to take in more adult kitties that we wouldn’t have room for at our shelter. Currently we have over 45 active fosters. We have also onboarded two new volunteers to help with this program which has been a great value!
Staying true to our mission we help the homeless, the sick, and the abused. We can also include hoarding cases, medical cases, and neonatal kittens in that statement! We truly take on the underserved population of cats and kittens.
Here are a couple of their stories from this year:
Eco came to us from a severe hoarding situation along with 18 other kitties. The home was not a home but a place full of waste, garbage, and animals. He also had a very large growth on the side of this face that the “owner” was cutting open to let drain. While living in filth this just created a breeding ground for a massive infection. This property was slated to be destroyed and needed to be vacated. We took all the cats in a two-day time frame. It was found that Eco had cancer which is what was causing the mass on his face. After many vet visits, it was decided to remove the mass and hope for clean margins. Eco successfully had the mass removed and today is cancer free! He is living his best life in a clean environment with proper medical care and other furry friends.
Uno came to us from a well-intended person taking in cats without the means to properly care for them. He came to us with an eye that was severely infected and ruptured the globe. He also had a severe upper respiratory infection causing him to have bad bloody noses. He needed his eye removed asap but couldn’t have that surgery done until his URI was cleared up. After many different antibiotics he was able to have his surgery and is now pain free and ready to live his life.
Smokey was a young mama brought to us with her kittens. During nursing she developed a severe case of mastitis which required her to have mammary gland removal. She was unable to continue nursing her kittens, so they needed to be bottle fed. After Smokey recovered from this surgery, we had to address another issue which was her eyes. Due to a bad infection that wasn’t treated before she came to us her third eyelids were damaged. While there is nothing, we can do about that now she also has entropion which causes her eyelashes to roll inwards, poking her in the eye. She needed to have entropion surgery to resolve this problem.
With wonderful supporters, staff, and volunteers we can help cats like Eco, Uno, and Smokey. These are just 3 stories of the hundreds of cats that need help in Clark County.
2024 seems to be on a similar pathway as 2023 except there are more kitties than ever to be saved! While we have been running full steam we simply cannot keep up with the sheer volume of cats and kittens who are needing homes, spayed & neutered, and rescued. We cannot adopt our way out of this crisis. We need the community to come together and help with mass spay/neutering efforts.
Here are ways you can help:
· Spay & neuter your cats. If you must wait for an appointment do not let them outside or mix with the opposite genders until it is done.
· Promote adopting from a shelter or rescue that way the cats are already spayed & neutered.
· Donate to your local animal shelter or rescue. If you are feeding strays or ferals get them spayed/neutered. Contact Feral Cat Coalition for assistance.
· Educate friends and family on spaying & neutering – be the voice for the cats.
· Remember there are no accidental litters. We all know how kittens happen. They happen from not being spayed or neutered. Spread the message: DON’T LITTER!
As the Executive/Medical Director of Furry Friends I personally know each cat and kitten that comes to us. I am also heavily involved with intakes, adoptions, fundraising, the spay/neuter clinic, and leading community outreach. If you call or email Furry Friends, you will most likely be responded to by me! I feel this creates an easier streamline of communication to our staff, volunteers, and donors which promotes smooth operations. It also keeps me on the ground, in touch with the community, and aware of the needs around us. With the help of our two Shelter Managers, our dedicated working board of directors, our faithful sponsors/donors, and over 200 volunteers we predict even more growth for 2025!
Jenn Hutchman
Furry Friends Executive Director
To understand more about Furry Friends, please watch our videos or visit our website at FurryFriendsWA.org
2024 Where we are now video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa7LspYbaGI
A story about two cats rescued from a hoarding situation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8SKxlGzK4