NEWS & IN-FUR-MATION

RECOGNITION CEREMONY

ITALIAN CATHOLIC FEDERATION

A message from our founder upon Pope Francis' death -

"Upon the passing of Pope Francis, the World was greatly diminished! He was a humble, simple man of Peace, compassion, and Faith.

He embodied Christianity of Love, inclusion, acceptance, and honesty in everyday life.

Pope Francis taught by example, not rhetoric. His legendary efforts to address the needs of all people, including the marginalized, persecuted, poor, and outcasts, will remain his greatest legacy and lesson for those who follow in his footsteps.

His kindness and compassion extended beyond humankind, including our animal brethren and Nature's gifts."

HONORS

Sally Morgan Welch

2017 Pope Saint John XXIII
Award Recipient

I am honored and humbled to be considered for this prestigeous Award. I accept this Award not just for myself but for all who Rescue. For me, Rescue was a natural progression that grew out of my childhood love for animals as companions and siblings for an only child.

It became my avocation and developed into what is my Life's work and Mission. But I learned early, that Rescue is not always easy and not often kind!

Those who Rescue face a myriad of challenges. We face a daunting overpopulation problem with the comcommittant problems of stray, feral and / or abandoned animals...especially cats.
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face heartbreaking cases of animal neglect, abandonment and abuse......
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face overburdoned or the absence of community resources to help animals of owners with limited resources or owners who are ill, disabled, or indigent with injured or sick animals.
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face the absence of any resources to help "good Samaritans" in our Communities who open their homes and hearts to the strays, abandoned, feral or ill and neglected animals.
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face feline illnesses for which there is NO prevention, NO treatment and NO cure...such as FIP, feline infectious peritonitis, which once contracted is 100% fatal.
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face the absence of education about compassion and humane education in our Schools...yet it is our children and children's children who will become the stewards of the animals and the Earth.
STILL WE RESCUE...

We see the sick, the elderly, the recovering and the challenged in pubic and private facilities that long for companionship and unconditional acceptance that only an animal can give.
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face the refusal by some Courts and jurists to honor and enforce our foster contracts rather allowing undocumented claims of oral agreements to override our written contracts thus allowing unscrupulous persons to illegally keep our foster animals. .... It is a practice that in other field would not go unchallenged!
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face perhaps well intentioned but ill conceived limitations/restraints in our Communities that actual punish those who Rescue.
STILL WE RESCUE...

We face the absence or very limited resources for petfriendly housing in our Communities. Thus we see increasing numbers of abandoned or surrendered animals.
 STILL WE RESCUE...

Knowing this, it was to address these issues that I founded Friends of the Formerly Friendless with the support of like minded Rescuers and family.

To address the problems of overpopuation, our Community Aid Program assists with spays/neuters of feral, and owned cats with limited resources.

As well, we assist on a case by case basis, the animals that need medical attention whose owners cannot afford it.

For the good Samaritans, we help provide medical check ups, screening, testing and vaccines. It was through our Community Assistance Program for Good Samaritans, that I met a compassionate lady named, Patty Jarrett, who opened up her heart and home to a neglected, neighborhood cat, who later became a beloved family member, named Copy Cat.

Our Short on Luck Program (S. O. L.) helps animals that are caught up in domestic violence or are at immediate risk for euthanasia or acts of violence.

We have worked with referrals from local agencies to provide emergency sanctuary in cooperation with our compassionate vets for animals from domestic violence or drug violence.

This Program grew out of a galvanizing early  experience when a frantic woman and her children, were seeking a safety for their remaining cat after a violent husband in an attempt to intimidate her, had killed the other family cat !

Our Visitors in Furs Program provides  visits to schools, nursing homes, hospitals and rehabilitation centers by our cat liasion, Petunia. Petunia helps teach humane education and animal care to our next generation.

To  address  the scourge of F. I. P, among cats in our Communities, FFF, and Petunia as cat liason, became a founding member of S.O.C.K, Save Our Cats and Kittens, a fund raising group that raises funds for the life saving work of Dr. Niels Pedersen, at U. C Davis. His groundbreaking research may lead to a cure and /or prevention of F. I. P. Recently, S.O.C.K. presented Dr. Pedersen and his team with a check for $60,000 to continue his work.

I spent our time together this evening detailing the litany of challenges and how FFF and I are addressing these, to assure you that your generous donation to our Mission will be put to good use.

In keeping with the teachings of Pope Paul and the philosophy of St. Francis of Assisi, I will close with the following thoughts.

WE NEED ANOTHER AND A WISER AND PERHAPS A MORE MYSTICAL CONCEPT OF ANIMALS

“ Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature throught the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnifield and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”
― Henry Beston, The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod

Thank you again for this Honor.
Bless the Animals each and every one.

COMMUNICATIONS ALERT !

DUE to circumstances beyond our control, the cell phone is acting like the cats ... it has a mind of its own! Until further notice, we ask that should you need to contact us, please do so via the following methods until:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 925.209.5431 (Alternate message phone)

We hope to get our cellphone back up and running as soon as possible. We will keep you updated as this situation develops.

The FFF Staff

BREAKING NEWS

"He died a hero": About 100 cats and sanctuary owner die in fire.

Chris Arsenault with one of his cats

A man who ran a sanctuary for rescued and abused cats "died a hero" Monday after a fire broke out at a safe haven he ran for felines in New York State.

The blaze took place Monday morning at Happy Cat Sanctuary in Medford on Long Island, the Suffolk County Police Department reported.

Officials and friends confirmed Chris Arsenault, 65, was killed in the blaze at the single-family home along with "numerous" cats.

"In excess of 100 deceased and living cats were found," William Doherty, police chief of detectives told reporters during a press conference Monday. At the time, officials were still working to locate the exact number of dead animals.

"Chris died a hero," said Amanda Rumble, founder of Community Cat Care in Michigan, adding she knew Arsenault through the rescue industry. "Chris was an amazing guy with a heart of gold. He dedicated his life to saving cats. He was in the middle of building an amazing new location to (move) the sanctuary to. The whole situation is absolutely heart wrenching."

Read the full article here.

Ages of our cats and kittens are approximate and may reflect the age
at which the cat entered FFF's Program.
FFF makes every effort to update the ages of our cats periodically.

When inquiring regarding one of our cats, please ask regarding the current age.