While posting pictures of my pretty kitties and writing lighthearted posts about the joys of being owned by them is wonderful, sometimes we have to step back a bit and look at the world for the harsh realities that are in front of us. Being chosen as one of the four finalists for the Petties 2011 Awards for the “Best Designed Blog” category is amazing and quite an honor. The possibility of winning $1000 for a rescue organization of my choice is even more so, but with it comes a significant mental and moral responsibility. It’s one thing to hand a check over to someone for a cause, it is another thing all together to really embrace and understand who you are giving it to and why.

My beloved Kit who came to me as a stray in 1992. Here she is resting on her favorite spot, the windowsill, sunning herself and bird watching. This was the last picture of her on the windowsill before she passed away at 18 years of age.

In my lifetime, I have had at least a dozen cats/kittens that have come to me by some design of fate – they have “appeared” in my driveway, I have happened upon them alongside the road or some other public place, or they have been given to me because I was someone’s last hope for a kitty to be saved from a certain demise. All of these methods have been relatively easy emotionally. Open the door. Feed the kitty. Kitty does not leave and becomes a permanent member of your family. For those dedicated and incredible people who give so much of their time, money, heart, and soul to spearheading rescue causes, that is an entirely different ball game and one that I am not certain I could handle with the grace, dignity, inner-strength, fortitude, and dedication that they do.

One such of these unsung heroes is Christine Michaels of both The Cat Network of South Florida and Riverfront Cats, who I have become very close with over the past few months, and who I plan on donating the prize money on behalf of if I win the Pettie Award. The Cat Network is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to humanely reducing cat overpopulation by educating the public about the need to sterilize their pets and strays, as well as by providing access to low-cost spay/neuter services for these cats, and helping members in their efforts to place adoptable cats in loving homes. There is an estimated 400,000 stray and feral cats in South Florida alone, with 700 cats waiting for adoptions within the Cat Network. It is a known fact that a female cat can have at least 3 litters a year, with an average of 4 to 6 kittens in each litter – one does not have to be a mathematical wizard to see how quickly an epidemic of cat overpopulation can develop and why the need for sterilization is imperative.

Amber and Rudy are a mother and son duo that were found abandoned over a year ago and the Cat Network is still looking for a forever home for them…

Riverfront Cats is Christine’s personal crusade to help the residing stray and feral population that lives in the Riverfront Community of Miami. She takes it upon herself to not only feed and maintain the well-being of these street cats, but also to tirelessly try to educate the local community about the epidemic of homeless cats in South Florida and the crucial need to spay and neuter pet cats and the stray cats that people feed. I say pet cats, because, believe it or not, many times it is someone’s family pet that ends up having kittens, and these kittens are then cruelly and irresponsibly abandoned by their owner, only to be found later on in dumpsters, parking lots, and at already over-crowded pet shelters.

A typical alley in Miami’s Riverfront community. Christine takes it upon herself to make sure the well being of these cats is attended to.

I would like for you all to get to know Christine as I have so that you can understand why this donation would be so helpful to her cause. In what will be a three part series, I will first tell you her story – how she became a cat lover and why she established Riverfront Cats for the homeless cat population in Miami. Part two will delve into the problem of cat overpopulation in general and the critical need to increase public awareness on the need to spay and neuter cats, and part three will discuss what the typical day in the life is like for someone who has taken on the responsibility of attending to an entire community of homeless cats who depend on her for their daily survival.

When I told Christine I would be doing this series, my first question to her, was how did it all start, and I was quite surprised to find out she was relatively new at being owned by a cat, claiming for many previous years that “she was not a cat lover.” Apparently she was basing her lack of interest of the feline species on ignorance, because she had actually never had a cat before! She had no idea of the extraordinary range of personality and uniqueness a cat can have until she “accidentally” adopted a kitten a few years ago. She had not set out to find this kitten – she was actually “a dog person” and was at her local pet store shopping for food for her Maltese.

Fate intervened and she somehow ended up not only bringing home a bag of dog food, but a helpless and homeless little kitten that someone begged her to take. She reluctantly said yes, thinking she could easily convince someone where she worked to adopt this little four week old orange marmalade kitten, but instead, she and her Maltese fell in love with this puff ball of fur and that’s all it took – like a lays potato chip – one cat was just not enough and her previously feline free life snowballed into a cause and effect that has led her to where she is today – a volunteer for the Cat Network of South Florida and an advocate for creating public awareness to stop the epidemic of homeless cats by educating people of the dire need to have cats spayed and neutered.

Christine with Johnny Walker – one of the stars of the Black Cat gala and currently up for adoption.

None of this comes cheap or without a price tag – Christine holds several jobs just to pay her own personal bills and to fund Riverfront Cats – food, medication, vet bills – much of this comes out of her own pocketbook. And please don’t let Christine’s evening gown and beauty throw you for a loop in the above picture – this is her at the inaugural Black Cat gala for the Cat Network. Christine conceived the idea for this fund raising event and is also the chairperson. The event was so successful that it is now to become an annual event and Brickell Magazine, a high end magazine focusing on leaders, important trends and success stories for the downtown Miami area, just printed a wonderful article on Christine’s efforts.

Please stop by Christine’s website to read in her own words the story of how she became a cat lover and to learn a bit more about her and her cause. Next post will discuss what Christine faces in her efforts to educate the community and she will share some brief stories of what she has to encounter out on the streets. She will also offer some tips and points as to what we all can do to help make a positive difference in what often seems like a hopeless situation.