‘Guardian Angel to Homeless Cats’ Needs Your Help, Says Letter to the Editor

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All cats pictured available for adoption now. [Photos provided by HART]

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A Letter to the Community:

Humboldt Animal Rescue Team (H.A.R.T.) is an animal rescue in Eureka that is home to around 70 cats and kittens of varying life stages; last year finding homes for over 400 cats and around 100 dogs and puppies, H.A.R.T. has even rescued parakeets, reptiles and guinea pigs. H.A.R.T. is a young non-profit 501 (c ) 3 organization that is the last stop for many cats who are homeless in our area.

There are varying reasons that cats find their way to H.A.R.T.s doors. Many due to their owners facing homelessness themselves, others experiencing medical emergencies leaving them unable to care for their pets, or even sudden deaths leaving behind beloved pets with no one to care for them. H.A.R.T. takes kittens that are failure to thrive and bottle fed kittens, as well as other cats that would otherwise face being euthanized in a shelter setting due to their old age, disability or illness.

Wendy Kupilik is the founder of the organization, she along with an amazing team of volunteers work every day to help animals in need. Wendy truly is a guardian angel to homeless cats. Cat image provided by HARTI’ve personally witnessed her and the H.A.R.T. volunteers rehabilitate several cats that were deemed “feral” and find great loving homes for them.

George came to us labeled “feral”, the vets even “docked” his ear which is common for feral cats. He is a beautiful black and white cat who thrashed around in his carrier and would hiss at any hands who came near him. Wendy used a back scratcher at first to pet him and eventually his true loving personality showed. He has now been adopted and his adopter said he sleeps in bed with her, sits and waits for her in the bathroom and even chases fish on an ipad game!

20-50 kittens/cats are spayed/ neutered and tested for FIV and FeLV by H.A.R.T. each month. H.A.R.T. has also assisted around 500 families this year to provide flea medicine and vaccinations to community members who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the necessary vet care. In the last 6 months H.A.R.T. has helped around 50 people with high medical expenses in order to assist animals in suffering.

It is important to even spay and neuter your barn/farm cats. We’ve taken litters of kittens and cats from every stretch of the county from the hills in the East to the South. Cat colonies can get out of control very quickly. Last year we rehomed around 40 cats from one abandoned cat colony in the Whitethorn area.

The overpopulation of cats in Humboldt County is a community wide problem and Wendy at H.A.R.T. is doing everything in her power to take on that problem one kitty (or more realistically batch of kitties) at a time. H.A.R.T. receives a handful of small local grants, they do not receive any government funding. Now more than ever H.A.R.T. needs donations and support from the community. H.A.R.T. recently was forced to relocate because the previous location was too small and lacked the necessary ventilation needed to house the number of cats in the rescue. This move has put a large dent in the already depleted rescue funds. The community can help by adopting kittens and cats from the rescue, and telling their friends and family members to adopt from H.A.R.T. Financial Donations can be accepted via gofundme.com/humboldtrescue and humboldtrescue.org/donate. Also accepted are donations of “World’s Best Cat Litter” and “Chicken Soup for the Cat/Kitten Lovers Soul”, or “Taste of The Wild” adult cat food, meat baby food, or “Revolution” flea medicine.

H.A.R.T. will be having a Formal Grand Opening event at their new location 8 West 6th Street on October 1st. There will be magic performances throughout the day by Marciano the Magnificent. From 6-9 pm H.A.R.T. will be hosting their first Arts Alive! featuring local artist Laura Keenados as well as live music, desserts, non-alcoholic beverages and a raffle with some great prizes. H.A.R.T. would love for the community to join them in celebrating their grand opening in the new location. In the mean time check them out online at facebook.com/humboldtanimalrescueteam or on their webpage humbodltrescue.org

Thank you all and God Bless!

Nicole Mezeske
Public Relations Coordinator
HART Board Member
Volunteercat photo from HART
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19 Comments
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TB
Guest
TB
7 years ago

Thank you Wendy, HART volunteers, and Nicole for all you do!!

Nicole M.
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  TB

Thank you so much for your support and kind words!!

TM May
Guest
TM May
7 years ago

No one deserves our help and gratitude more than people that do this. They help to abate so much suffering, and find homes for so many who’s only crime was being born. Many kudos and thanks.

Nicole M.
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  TM May

Thank you for your kind words and support!

Henchman Of Justice
Guest
Henchman Of Justice
7 years ago

Are there any “get togethers” by H.A.R.T. with:

1) Childrens Services
2) Victim Services
3) Elderly Services
4) Disabled Services
5) Schools
6) Colleges, trade schools
7) Farmers, Ag land residents (mice, rats, open space)
8) Farmers Markets
9) County Operations (Have a flyer ready for applicants of all permit processes to consider adoption)
10) Fairs, Stock Car Races, autorama type fairs, Reggae, waterfront, Plaza, public meetings and othet open community events
11) Local veterans
12) etc….

Just expanding upon likely recipients aside from local media outlets that help pr. What about a website that pulls together all animal shelters, collates and organizes the stock of animals to help pr when getting together with other interests and for google searching (like internet shopping).

Hate animal neglect and humans who are irresponsible, selfish, enslaving, abandoning, abusive, etc….

Love H.A.R.T.

Resident @ large
Guest
Resident @ large
7 years ago

You are a tenacious SOB but do need to be heard, or read, as the case may be.

Nicole M.
Guest
7 years ago

Thank you for the ideas and support!

Mogtx
Guest
7 years ago

You at hart are saints .

Nicole M.
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  Mogtx

Thank you for your kind words.

Anon Forrest
Guest
Anon Forrest
7 years ago

Something is haywire with the website, and I don’t do Facebook. I want to contribute, but I’m stymied. Any ideas? af

Nicole M.
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

https://www.gofundme.com/humboldtrescue

checks or in cash donations can be accepted in person at 8 West Sixth St Eureka during open hours mon 12-2, tues 12-5, Wed & Fri 3-5, Sat 12-5, Sun 1-4 .

We will also be at the Farm Store for the Pet Fair on Sept 24th doing face painting for donations if you want to get your face painted 😀

Thank you for your support!

Anon Forrest
Guest
Anon Forrest
7 years ago
Reply to  Nicole M.

I’m far away. Do you have PayPal? If not, consider it. Thanks for all you do, Big Hearts! af

Nicole M.
Guest
7 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

The PayPal account email is [email protected]

Hope that way works out . Thank you again for your support.

Nicole M.
Guest
Nicole M.
7 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

We are also looking for new kennels so we can have more space to rescue even more cats. Here is a link to the one we use most often:

https://www.amazon.com/Petmate-34-Inch-Training-Retreats-70-Pound/dp/B005U6UOD2/ref=sr_1_sc_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473995575&sr=8-5-spell&keywords=pet+mate+50-70+lbs

Ellen
Guest
Ellen
7 years ago

As I sit here with my recently adopted kitten sleeping on my lap, I can’t say enough good things about HART! Wonderful people who do so much good for the animals in our community.

sharpen your pencil
Guest
sharpen your pencil
7 years ago

Adopted a kitten into the family, from HART around a year ago. The process was easy and we got an awesome kitty. She was brought into HART from the Lake County fire. It was perfect timing for everyone!

Anon Forrest
Guest
Anon Forrest
7 years ago

Well done! (But you know that.) Thanks, af

silverlining
Guest
silverlining
7 years ago

I like the kennel idea. Hordes of cats can decimate small animal populations.

Nicole M
Guest
Nicole M
7 years ago
Reply to  silverlining

The kennels are used in our rescue setting as we house around 70+ cats. We do not want cats to be kenneled long term which is why we try to get cats adopted into new homes quickly. We suggest keeping cats indoors or having them wear quick release collars with bells if worried about what small animals they may kill. We love cats and think they deserve to be free to roam in loving warm homes, preferably snuggled next to you in bed.