Louie Found His Home!

There were two moments in my life that guided me to this point where I pair coffee sales and animal welfare. Very specific moments that altered my life.

One of those moments was when I was looking for a kitten to adopt one spring, years ago. I thought I would take my time to find the best kitten available, a "perfect kitten", that I eventually found (well, perfect to me), but I also learned a lot.

Wanting to adopt, I visited a shelter, one of the biggest in my area, to begin my search. In the shelter, we walked by many cages, animals, and rooms. There was a room that had older animals. They even had kittens altogether with their siblings and mothers. We also walked past rooms where people were meeting their prospective adoptees and getting to know them. This was the first time I felt an urgency.

We had picked a group of kitten siblings to play with and they put us all in a room to meet and play. I watched them wrestling, and jumping on each other with a big smile on my face. They were so cute. I noticed one of the kittens had a birth defect, but he didn't seem to know that.  He was wrestling and jumping with all the rest. They were so excited to be out of their smaller cage and climbing on us. One kitten ended up on my shoulder and was talking in my ear. For me, it was love at first sight! I put a reserve on him so they could neuter him and I decided to call him Louie. 

That night, I couldn't stop thinking about Louie. I couldn't wait to see him again. We were going to have so much fun together. I was also thinking a lot about his brother with the birth defect. I had feelings for him too, but I felt sad and a little angry at myself. I wondered why I hadn't considered him. Was it because he wasn't perfect, even though he was unaware he wasn't? It made me want to show him that he was perfect, enough. So, I made up my mind, I would adopt them both!... I stayed awake till the sun came up with excitement.

The next morning, I went to the shelter and was so happy to see Louie again, but the kitten with the birth defect was not there. I was a little sad that I didn't reserve him, but also kind of happy for the little guy.

As we walked through the halls to leave, I noticed other animals that were missing. Some older dogs were replaced with different older dogs. Animals that I saw and thought would be there for a long time were gone too. As I got in my car the reality for what had happened to the missing animals hit me. Louie and I sat there. I couldn't stop crying. I don't blame the shelters. I get it.

Our mission is to find loving homes for those that are more difficult to place, they are not missfit toys. They are warm, loving, and not aware that they are different. Finding unique fostering opportunities for kill shelters, working with no kill shelters that don't turn away the difficult to place, or finding someone that wants a mature pet. Anything we can do to extend their time so we can find a home, we will do. We will even begin to introduce some here in the future, so keep an eye out.

And by the way, Louie is still with me. That's a picture of him from a few years ago at the top of this page. He also suffers from a birth defect, but I don't think he knows it.

Thank you and blessings.

Thomas