Born Survivors

Displaced cats from the California fires put on display for adoption.

With the Carr and Klamath fires wreaking havoc among many California residences, 12 displaced and abandoned felines from those surrounding areas adorned the K-Mart shopping center in Mckinleyville on Aug. 25.

Shannon Ventuleth is the director of Sierra Pacific Furbabies Rescue of the Northern California Division. She has been an advocate for cats in these situations since 2014.

“We have adult cats from the Klamath fire, and kittens from the Carr fire and other cats that have been abandoned or found from local areas,” Ventuleth said. “They were originally for short term at Shasta sanctuary who’s a rescue partner of ours, who have lots of cats.”

Pat Inabnit was the first to arrive with her three cats Zippy, Cally, and Brock. All of whom were lost because of the Carr fires.

Inabnit has been a foster cat owner for about three years now. Inabnit said it all started when she took in a pregnant cat a friend of hers found. From that point on she developed a love for raising pregnant cats and preparing kittens for great homes.

“Zippy is a tuxedo cat, who just loves everyone. Cally and Brock are the inseparable ones,” Inabit said. “They both helped one another to get out of their shell. Before being together they were not nearly as calm as they are now.”

From the Carr fire area, cats D.G., Li’l Tom, and Casey were on display doing what cats do best, being fluffy and hard not to pay attention to. Patrons and employees could not resist the little furry felines.

The rescue got its start when Ventuleth decided to rescue a black cat called “Nix” from a high kill shelter in Riverside, California.

“It all started when I wanted that cat, and a guy named David Luke said he would go down to pick up Nix, and he would have his secretary drive him back up to me,” Ventuleth said.

From there Ventuleth started to work with a rescue up north until she filed paperwork to start Sierra Pacific Furbabies Rescue.

The rescue shelter regularly hosts pet adoptions every month at Petco. The Aug. 25 adoption was the first of which to be held at the K-Mart location in Mckinleyville.

Terry Olgin is the lead service member at the K-Mart in Mckinleyville. This was his first time hosting an event.

“Every Saturday we try to host events here at K-Mart so that we can get the community more involved,” Olgin said. “At first, we were going to host dogs, but with the fires this might be better for Sierra Pacific because the main focus can stay on the cats.”

With the California fires continuing to rage and destroy homes, hundreds of misplaced cats continue to load up on the street and are in danger of being put into high kill shelters. For these 12 cats, Sierra Pacific Furbabies is giving these adorable felines a second chance to once again belong to a home or a loving family.

For more info on Sierra Pacific Furbabies Rescue and how to adopt you can access their link http://www.sierrapacificfurbabies.com/ or contact Director Shannon Ventuleth (707)441-9502.