When Mouse arrived at Young-Williams Animal Center with her siblings, she was just hours old, unable to see and already missing the familiar scent of her mother. Unsure how to care for such tiny lives, their finder brought the kittens to the shelter once it was clear their mother would not return. Thanks to your generous donations, our intake team could pounce into action.

Given the age and condition of the kittens, the staff suspected these little ones had never fed from their mother. The top priority was to provide the little babies with fluids, warmth and food. Without these immediate steps, kittens in this conditions would not survive.

After stabilizing the litter, our foster department reached out to dedicated neonatal volunteers to see if anyone would selflessly agree to care for Mouse and her siblings. In just a few hours, the litter was safely secured in an incubator with a car loaded full with supplies and departed our shelter with a foster who would keep careful watch over their progress.

Once home, with the kittens crying out for their mother, our foster volunteer, Amy, became a surrogate. She gently brushed their faces with a toothbrush to simulate a momma cat’s grooming. She rotated heating disks to keep the babies warm and syringe-fed them every two hours. A little over a week later, the kitten’s eyes opened, and they saw the world for the first time!

This beautiful story is experienced over and over again in our foster department – stories of hope and healing, stories of lives changed, both animal and human. Before our foster department was established, tiny lives like Mouse’s had little hope for a happy outcome. Because of your generous gifts, since 2017 we have been able to save more than 8,000 animals too sick or small for adoption upon arrival. They found their second chance through our foster program.

Many of our programs, including foster families, our Pet Resource Center and public Spay/Neuter Solutions, started as a direct result of unmet needs for the pets in our community. While Young-Williams Animal Center may have established these crucial programs, it is your generosity that brings them to life. When you make a gift to our shelter, you are offering hope, you are providing second chances, you are creating happily ever after.

As we look to the future of animal welfare, we face many challenges. You have the power to help ensure vulnerable animals have a safe place where they receive care and love. Next spring, kitten season will be upon us once again. There will still be thousands of pets like Mouse who arrive in need of urgent care but with you by our side, we’ll be better equipped to care for them with an expanded foster office.

We invite you to come tour the shelter and see first-hand how your gift is making a difference, how your compassion for pets is saving lives.

This holiday season, please consider making a gift to Young-Williams Animal Center and supporting these programs and the on-going effort to save every life, no matter how small, injured or vulnerable.

Best wishes,

Janet Testerman
Chief Executive Officer

P.S. Mouse and her siblings all got adopted this fall and are spending their first Thanksgiving in loving homes, hoping for a taste of turkey! You have the potential to help save lives all year round when you become a Constant Companion by checking the “make it monthly” box below. Please consider a gift to help our community’s lost, unwanted, abused and injured pets receive the second chance they deserve.