This Month’s Features
Pet Spotlight: Missy
Our first meeting wasn’t exactly love at first sight: Missy, my assigned Bideawee foster cat, was flattened against the back of the plastic carrier, sedated, huddled under a blanket, and terrified.
Happy Volunteer Appreciation Month
As someone who has spent a significant part of my life playing and listening to music, I often relate moments in time or specific people and places with songs. So, if tasked to come up with a theme song to represent how I feel about the incredible people that make up the Bideawee Volunteer corps, I would say it would be “Kind and Generous” by Natalie Merchant.
“Kitten Season” Offers Special Foster Care Opportunities
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) caretakers know that kitten season is already in full swing, with longer days and warmer weather inspiring more unfixed feral and stray community cats to breed. Life outdoors can be very dangerous for the resulting kittens, so rescuing and finding loving indoor homes for them is one of the goals of TNR.
Dedicated volunteer foster care is key to each feral-born kitten’s adoption success! Through providing orphaned newborn bottle babies with specialized, around-the-clock care, or gently socializing “spicy” older feral-born kittens in your home, you can create confident, cuddly feline companions — plus help reduce the number of kittens growing up on the streets, free up shelter space to help other animals, and allow TNR caretakers to focus on spaying/neutering more adult community cats.
Curious to learn about the different ways you can transform tiny lives as a kitten foster caretaker during kitten season? Check out these three on-demand webinar recordings from Bideawee’s Feral Cat Initiative:
– Kitten Season 101
– Bottle-Feeding & Care of Orphaned Kittens
– Taming Feral Kittens for Adoption
And if you’re interested in volunteering as a Bideawee foster caretaker, learn more and apply on our website.
Volunteer Spotlight: Happy National Volunteer Month!
April is National Volunteer Month – join our family today!
Bideawee could not do the important work it does without the dedicated volunteers who tirelessly help with animal care, administrative tasks, events, and animal transport at our three locations all year long – holidays included! We believe that support is a two-way street, and we work hard to provide educational and recreational opportunities for our volunteers to learn and socialize with one another in an enjoyable atmosphere.
We recently held a pet first aid class in our New York City location led by Robyn Elman, Certified Pet Tech Pet CPR & First Aid Instructor. Together, we learned about emergency preparedness, traveling with a pet, poisonous foods, and how to muzzle a dog or cat in an emergency situation.
Are you interested in changing the lives of animals in need and learning along the way? To join our community of volunteers, fill out an application today for our Wantagh and Westhampton locations
See details about our needs on our website.
Kibbe Spotlight: Ken Johnsen
I’ll never forget the day my wife and I brought home our beloved dog Sadie. Sadie provided years of joy and companionship and aged gracefully alongside me and my wife. At a certain point, her once boundless energy began to wane, replaced by a quiet wisdom that seemed to speak volumes.
Pick of the Litter: Molly
My Pick of the Litter for April is our beloved Molly! Molly is one of those dogs who shows terribly because she can be fearful of strangers, but is so incredibly loving once she feels comfortable with you. It breaks my heart that she has been with us so long because we all know how sweet and affectionate she is. Molly loves to run and play in the park with her people friends but can be selective with other dogs. She needs a little time to warm up to new people, but once you toss her a few cookies and make her feel comfortable, she’s easy to win over. Overall, Molly is a great dog who would thrive in a adult-only home or a home with older children. She just needs someone to have a little patience with her and help her feel safe and secure.
Meet Molly at our Westhampton location!
Staff Spotlight: Justine Kalmowitz
Hi! My name is Justine Kalmowitz, I’m 19-years old and I’m an Animal Care Specialist at Bideawee’s PAWS location in Wantagh.
Name: Harper Lee Age: 12-ish Resides in: New York, NY Favorite activity: Chasing squirrels in Central Park Favorite food: Eggs Celebrity Kindred Spirit: Harper Lee, of course! She was rescued from a shelter in Alabama, and her dad also grew up in Alabama, hence the name Least favorite phrase: "Leave it!" (Usually when she's trying to eat something off the ground) Favorite phrase: "Go get it!" (what we call "fetch" in our house)