And my other brother, Bucky is posing as the "Easter Bucky" on our website, www.rosiesbarkery.com. Don't worry, he was not harmed in the making of that picture, he's quite the ham...um, well, I suppose in shape and in his love for showing off....Anyways, I'm not the only one with cat siblings. My partner, Bella, comes from a big feline family, 6 cats! Allow me to introduce them:
This is Maggie This is Kurt
This is Kopie and Pumpkin And baseball enthusiast, Miss Georgia
Now why, are we going on about cats since we make dog treats? It's because we're raising money for an organization called Kitten Rescue! I got the chance to interview them, read all about it here:
What areas of Los Angeles are you a helper to?
We are active in the entire Los Angeles area, although we are mostly concentrated in West LA, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita and Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena.
How did Kitten Rescue get started?
Kitten Rescue began in 1997 when our founder, Sue Romaine, started intercepting week-old kittens as they were being brought into the West Valley shelter and took them home to bottle feed and adopt out rather than allow them to be put to sleep. When people in the community saw her at pet stores with these adoptable kittens they volunteered to help, and the organization has slowly and steadily grown over the past fifteen years to where we now are able to rescue and adopt out 1,000 cats and kittens annually.
I understand that you help dogs as much as you help cats, which species is harder to help?
I can’t say that one is harder than the other; both present their own sets of challenges, both on the front end when you are rescuing and caring for them and on the back end when you are trying to find them homes.
For instance, dogs tend to have higher medical expenses than cats and are much more resource intensive, so you can’t rescue as many of them as you can cats. On the other hand, finding a home for a purebred mini-schnauzer or golden retriever puppy is a walk in the park. Cats are usually a little easier to take care of – there’s really no comparison between a litter of kittens (who are fun and wonderful) and a litter of puppies (who will make olympic-sized messes and destroy everything) – but the supply and demand dynamic for cats is very different and so they can often be a little harder to adopt out. Although everything changes once you start talking about pit bulls – they are the most like cats, in that there are a lot of them that need homes but there aren’t so many adoptive homes for them. Which is sad, really, because by and large they are wonderful, goofy dogs.
Now a lot of people think that dogs and cats can’t get along and while it’s true that I would rather chase a stray cat then be it’s friend, I do get along with my cat brothers quite well. What’s the best way that you know to get cats and dogs to get along?
The best thing to do is to introduce them slowly, and always under strict supervision. Dogs are very good at letting their body language speak for itself and an observant owner will be able to differentiate playful and aggressive behavior. I have found that most cats will be willing to peacefully coexist, if not overtly befriend, a friendly dog.
How many cats do you currently have and how many dogs for adoption?
Our group has over 1,000 cats and about 40 dogs up for adoption.
On the FAQs page of our website, www.rosiesbarkery.com, I pose the question, “Why do cats do what they do? Can you possibly answer this for me?
I don’t think anyone can answer this question! Maybe the cats can, but they’re not talking.
These are hard times for animal friends and human friends, what are some of the challenges facing your organization today?
The two biggest ones are unquestionably the increase in animals losing their homes or being abandoned, and the decrease in private donations caused by the difficult economy. Animals don’t know good economies from bad, but the people that care for them certainly feel the pinch.
What are things that everyday people can do to improve the lives of animals in Los Angeles?
Give! Whether it’s time spent volunteering with a no-kill rescue, space in your home that you use to foster an animal in need, or money to help a rescue group save more animals, the needs of the rescue community are tremendous and every little bit helps.
Do you serve treats at your cats and dogs and if so, what flavors? I like peanut butter but I know there are other flavors out there.
When I want to give my cats treats, I’ll get them a rotisserie chicken – it’s like the cat version of Shark Week when I do that. As for dogs, well, they’ll eat pretty much anything, and I think they get as much enjoyment out of the ceremony that comes with treat giving as they do the actual treat. So I try to stay with healthy treats; right now the favorites are dried cranberries or blueberries, and when in season, fresh mango.
Do you have any fun events coming up for party animals feeling frisky?
Why yes – In the fall we’re going to host our fifth annual Fur Ball fundraiser, though the date and location haven’t been set yet. But we will put up details on our website, www.kittenrescue.org.
Squirrels, what do your dog and cat friends of think of them?
Better than television.
How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?
The best way is through our website at www.kittenrescue.org – they can learn about our programs and send us an email to volunteer or help us out in any way.
And thank you for sitting, staying and reading, good human!
