GoNogging has announced the winner for our “Smiling Pets” contest and these 2 cuties have taken home the prize. Thank you to everyone who participated and raised enough money to pay for 4 cats to get spayed!

Poor Bettina was brought to Animal Care and Control as a throw-away stray.  She was an FIV positive kitty with a severe upper respiratory infection and languished in a cage with a bloody nose for weeks.  Her weight began to drop and her chance for adoption was very slim.  A rescue finally stepped forward for her but quickly backed out when they heard her FIV+ status.

When S.I. Feral Initiative,  learned about Bettina, they immediately took her into their rescue.  Friends of Animal Rescue paid for Bettina’s medical care and watched her progress on the road to recovery, happy to give her new chance at life.

Bettina soon found a new loving home who had another FIV+ cat.  She now lives a life of kitty leisure, playing with her brother and snoozing on pillows. Her mom says Bettina and her new brother is a perfect match.  They’re inseparable!

A Thank You letter to Friends of Animal Rescue

Three years ago I noticed my corner bodega in Harlem had a beautiful black and white kitten with almond shaped eyes. I was concerned, as often, bodegas use cats as mere rodent traps. In some cases, little affection is shown the animal, and about as much food. The withholding of food is thought to increase the hunger, and therefore the rodent hunting efficacy of the cat. Five months later in the freezing weather, I spotted her crouching down on her belly, crawling up and down the gutter, next to the curb, then intermittently darting to plastic trash bags, desperately tearing them open in search of food, then darting back underneath parked cars. I brought this little cow-print patterned, cross-eyed, adorable female home with me. After the first 48 hours I realized she was partly feral, only minimally socialized. She would only approach me for cuddles and petting, if I were in bed, lying down. We have a horizontal relationship.

Casmir

Several years later, I heard a loud thumping on the floor in the living room. I ran out to find Calamity having a grande mal seizure. I rushed her to my vet, Dr. Giangola at The Animal Health Center. She was diagnosed with ACQUIRED epilepsy. Dr. G stated that it was caused from scarring on her brain due to trauma. He prescribed phenylbarbitol, twice a day, at the exact same hour, morning and night, for the rest of Calamity’s life. I can happily say now, that Calamity is doing fine now. She’s a little floppy from the phenylbarbitol, but her seizures almost never happen.

Friends of Animal Rescue enabled me to take Calamity to my vets. Because of their assistance in paying a portion of my outstanding bill, The Animal Health Center trusted to treat Calamity when I was unable to pay immediately.

She’s a survivor who is thriving thanks to the efforts of Friends Of Animal Rescue. A deep thank you, and a happy ending—from Calamity!

On Friday, February 26, Mitzi’s World creators Deborah Raffin and Jane Wooster Scott presented Friends of Animal Rescue with a check for $500. “We are happy to help support Friends of Animal Rescue,” said Raffin and Scott. “Since Mitzi was a beloved rescue dog, the organization is a natural fit. Further, we hope our efforts help shine a light on Friends of Animal Rescue, since they are an example of how communities and towns across the country can help support local animal shelters.”

“Mitzi’s World,” just released, has garnered favorable reviews, including the Kirkus Review which wrote: “… ‘I Spy’ aficionados will devour this artful search-and-find. Fifteen stirring folk-art-style paintings pay homage to daily life as observers search for more than 150 images within them.” The book includes 15 paintings, each featuring Mitzi, by Wooster-Scott. In addition to Mitzi, there are other objects for children to uncover in the paintings, with prose by Raffin, that contain: candy canes in winter, sailboats in spring, sand castles in summer, or pumpkins in fall. The goal of the book is to help introduce children to art appreciation, and now with the charitable component, appreciation for rescued pets.

You can visit Mitzi on Facebook (“Mitzi’s World”), or at www.mitzisworld.com.