Thank You Dr Virginia Huang

We at Furry Friends consider Dr. Huang to be one of life’s true treasures. Not only has she and her business partners Dr. Richard Green and Dr Namkung of Salmon Creek Plastic Surgery donated countless items valued at thousands of dollars to our annual auction, but she has also provided us with invaluable guidance and support throughout the years.

 Dr. Huang attended Stanford University for College and then graduated from Yale Medical School. She chose the field of plastic surgery because, in her own words, “Plastic surgery is one of the only fields in medicine where you are putting things back together. I love the idea of helping patients heal from their injuries and restoring them back to health.”

She and Dr. Green started Salmon Creek Plastic Surgery in 2006 and in 2007, Dr. Huang became a Tuxedo Sponsor of Furry Friends. 

Asked how and why she got involved with Furry Friends, Dr. Huang replied, “I saw the Furry Friends booth at the Recycled Arts Fair. I purchased a raffle ticket and won one of Royal Meow Cat Castles for Cats’ fantastic cat trees. I love cats (my husband and I have three rescue cats) and loved that Furry Friends was an all-volunteer organization that was dedicated to rescuing homeless and abused cats in our community.

 “I was especially impressed when I found out that they had rescued an elderly cat from a bad situation and were seeking a foster home for it. One of my staff members actually adopted that cat!”

As to her favorite part about being involved with Furry Friends? She has been so impressed by how much we have grown since she started supporting us, and she’s particularly excited by the plans for the new medical building, quoting the words of Executive Director Jenn Hutchman:

 “Let’s talk about what ‘building’ means to us. Not only are we building a building, we are also:

Building new programs that will help the injured, the abused, the abandoned, the lost, the forgotten kitties fending for themselves every day in Clark County.

Building hope for animal welfare here.

Building a lifeline for caretakers of feral cat colonies that are running out of resources and help.

Building a support system for the cats without a voice.

Building a community of cat lovers all working together for one common goal.

Building a bridge to collaborate with other rescues and shelters.

Building a path forward for the future to do more for the cats in our community.”

 “All of the above is why I love supporting Furry Friends,” she concludes.

Since her retirement several years ago, Dr. Huang has traveled the globe pursuing her hobby and passion - photographing wildlife. She loves observing the world around her, and among the many places she has visited are India, Africa, Antarctica and South America. She’s created numerous exquisite wildlife video documentaries showcasing, e.g., eagles, owls, hawks and osprey from birth to fledging leaving their nests. At home, she’s out once or twice a week photographing the local wildlife.

 Fortunately for us, she’s always donated one or two of her original, exotic framed photos to our annual auctions. And for this year’s auction on September 21st, Dr. Huang is creating a video that will showcase some of our adopted cats of 2024.

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Furry Friends VIP Spotlights are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA.

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Dr. Huang donated a huge amount for the Furry Friends Medical Building.

Dr. Virginia Huang donates $100,000 in MATCH funds for Giving Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Longtime supporter, Dr. Virginia Huang, has generously offered to double any donations made on #Giving Tuesday up to $100,000! This means that each dollar you donated will be doubled.

Thanks to Dr. Huang’s amazing commitment, your contribution will have DOUBLE the impact in helping Furry Friends build a new medical facility for vital services like spay/neuter programs and veterinary care.

We interviewed Dr. Huang about why she has been such a big supporter of Furry Friends.

What motivated you to make such a generous donation towards our building fund? 

There is a huge need in our area (and everywhere) for spay/neuter services.  Getting pets spayed and neutered is one of the most important ways to help end pet homelessness.  Furry Friends having their own medical building will allow them to spay/neuter all of their cats in house.  In addition, I was thrilled to learn that Furry Friends also would like to start a TNR program for Clark and surrounding counties, offer a low cost program for seniors with pets, and partner with other animal rescues to use the space and services.  All of these are reasons why I chose to make this significant donation towards the construction of the medical building.  I have been a supporter of Furry Friends since 2007 and have seen them grow into one of the most significant cat rescues in our area (they now serve Clark, Cowlitz, and Skamania Countries and take on the most difficult and challenging cases including horrible hoarding cases, they also help caregivers of feral cat colonies, and have a food pantry to provide food for pet owners in need).   I was so impressed when they were able to purchase their own shelter a few years ago (which was a huge undertaking).  The medical building is another huge endeavor, but I have full confidence that Furry Friends with help from the community will be successful in building it.

Was there a specific moment or experience with the shelter that made you realize this was an area where you wanted to make a significant impact?  I have been so impressed with the numerous dedicated volunteers who make Furry Friends possible from the people who tirelessly foster the bottle baby kittens in their homes to the volunteers who come regularly to the Furry Friends shelter to care for the adult cats in need of homes to the hardworking Board Members.  I love to support local charities in my communities and I felt like I was really making a difference with my support of Furry Friends.

What would you say to others who might be considering making a donation to Furry Friends?    I would like to encourage anyone who wants to help end pet homelessness in our community to seriously consider donating to Furry Friends whether it be for the medical building or to help Furry Friends provide medical care and food to all of the homeless cats that they rescue as many of the cats they take in (especially from the hoarding cases) have horrible medical conditions that require extensive treatment before they can be healthy enough to be put up for adoption  It truly takes a village for Furry Friends to be a success and we can’t do it without the support of our community.

How has your involvement with our rescue or other causes shaped your personal outlook on life?  I find it very fulfilling to be able to support our local community charities.  It is very important for me to be able to give back to my community. 

Is there anything else you'd like to share about your journey with Furry Friends or your hopes for the future of our rescue?  I look forward to supporting Furry Friends so that they can continue to grow and be a significant advocate in our community for homeless pets.  The sky is the limit!

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 Furry Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, no-kill cat rescue that is volunteer run and funded by individual and corporate donations. Now in our 25th year, we serve the community of Clark County by providing homeless or relinquished cats with medical examinations, vaccinations, spaying/neutering, and ID microchipping before finding them “fur-ever” homes. We handle about 800 cats a year. We proudly have an active Board of Directors, three staff members and more than 200 volunteers who contribute over 100,000 hours each year to our cause. For more information about Furry Friends, please visit us at www.furryfriendswa.org , or you can contact us at information@furryfriendswa.org or (360) 993-1097 (message phone).