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EV cat rescue confronting a �lood of felines

Getting ready for an adoption event July 31 at Gordy’s Goodies Pet Food & Supplies are, from left, Gordy’s owner Lisa Thayer, Kattered Tails CEO Monica Colello and Kattered Tails Intake Director Amber Gries. The three kittens they are holding are up for adoption. (Special to the Tribune)

BY ASHLYN ROBINETTE

Tribune Staff Writer

Pet overpopulation has left animal shelters and rescues across the Valley at capacity or nearly full with pets needing homes.

Kattered Tails, a Chandler foster homebased rescue, is at capacity and in desperate need of help with food and supplies for their 80 cats and kittens in care.

“You get tired of telling everyone ‘sorry we’re full,’” said Monica Colello, CEO of Kattered Tails.

With community support, Colello and her colleagues believe they can continue to �ight pet overpopulation and ensure that every homeless cat and kitten they foster �inds a forever home.

“Community support is integral for us to continue to support the community,” the rescue stated on Nextdoor.

“Without community support we will be forced to implement the full surrender fees when taking in cats and kittens. Caring for these little families is not free. Support is needed.”

Pet overpopulation in Maricopa County was once second nationally only to Los Angeles County, according to the Arizona Humane Society.

Since then, more efforts have been made to save lives and Maricopa County Animal Care and Control reported a decline in overall animal intake numbers in recent years and a higher percentage of animals being adopted out or relocated after coming in through their doors. MCACC has maintained an average annual save rate of 94 percent or higher since 2017. Yet, the in�lux of homeless pets is still high.

Animal shelters and rescues like Kattered Tails now have to turn away pets due to lack of space, fosters, supplies or money.

Shelters being at capacity is normal for this time of the year, according to MCACC. ���TAILS ���� 16

Mesa Fire helps woman celebrate 75th birthday

BY TOM SCANLON

Tribune Managing Editor

Jodi Gutirrez was thinking of hiring a male stripper dressed as a �ireman for her mother’s 75th birthday.

Then, she came up with a better idea: Real �iremen!

They didn’t strip, but members of the Mesa Fire Department stopped by to help Jodi and her family cheer “happy birthday!” to Kay LeBrun. Jodi’s parents, Joe and Kay LeBrun, were meant to be together.

The Mesa couple were born on the same day in the same year – July 1, 1946, in the same Michigan hospital – Mercy Hospital in Bay City. The same doctor even brought them both into this world. A Tribune story from 2006, when they were celebrating their 60th birthday, tells their shoulda-been-a-movie story:

“The two met on a blind date when they were 15 years old. They both said it was truly amazing when they found out they shared a birthday.

“Kay broke up with Joe six months later, and they didn’t talk again until �ive years later. But remember, they were meant to be together.

“When Joe returned from the Navy, he saved up and bought a new red and white 1963 Corvette and thought about that girl Kay he used to go with.

“‘I had been in the Navy long enough to know what wrong women were,’ said Joe, an electrician for Boeing. ‘Kay had the right schooling, came from a good family

15 Downtown Mesa gallery welcomes exhibitors

BY ALLI CRIPE

Tribune Contributor

The OneOhOne Gallery in downtown Mesa is presenting its Summer Sunburn Art Show, owner Suzanne Woodward’s �irst show in more than a year. “Obviously, it’s been dif�icult,” said Woodford of the year-long gap created by the pandemic. “We were not able to have artist openings and gatherings like we usually do.”

Woodford wears several hats. She’s an artist, the owner and principal of the Dobson Montessori School and has been a teacher for 35 years. She believes in art and education as well as art in the community.

“When I was a kid, I think a teacher in the fourth grade told me I had a little bit of talent,” Woodford said. “A thing like that is important. Hopefully, I can continue to inspire student and adult artists.”

Woodford created OneOhOne Gallery to inspire community creativity after she found the historic building. Built in 1895, the building was home to Mesa’s �irst bank and the space now includes executive of�ice suites, classes, nine residential artists and three art galleries of revolving work.

“Over the years, I’ve also run the 2nd Friday Night Out event in Downtown Mesa, which engages the community in an art and cultural event,” said Woodford.

Woodford says that the 2nd Friday Suzanne Woodward owns the OneOhOne Gallery in downtown

Mesa. (Special to the Tribune)

Night Out events brought in a community of artists not just from Mesa but the entire Valley and had attracted a surge of visitors in 2019.

“It’s devastating. Up until COVID-19 happened, we were so pleased,” said Woodford. “It was allowing artists to network with other artists.”

According to Woodford, the City of Mesa has allowed permits for the �irst 2021 2nd Friday Night Out event in September.

The Summer Sunburn Art Show proposed a unique opportunity for any artist to show their work, inviting any artist who was interested in presenting their work.

The show offered entry to artists of any medium, only asking for a �lat fee along with their submissions. A variety of paintings grace the walls from talents of all ages and tenure were cooped up during the year. Arizona State University �ilm photography student Sydney Conner, 19, is ecstatic to have six photographs included in the OneOhOne Gallery show

“I would love to get more work into galleries,” says Conner, who creates avant garde photography including a wonderful image of a neon redheaded teenager in a wedding dress, basking in a pool. “There’s really something about a gallery wall that brings out the best in your work.”

Earlier this month at a reception, juried awards were given to artists for six of the more than 60 pieces of work. Winners included Raleigh Kinney, Linda Smith, Anita Moser, Trent Richardson, Char MacDonald and Allison Kantor.

“When I walked in with some friends of mine and my wife Darlene, right away we saw that ribbon,” said local artist Raleigh Kinney about his watercolor, “Golden Hour.”

“It still gives you a thrill, a sense of accomplishment,” he said.

“I hope people will be inspired and entertained,” said Woodford about her wishes for the show. “We’re excited to invite people back into the world to remember how important art is.”

The Summer Sunburn Art show will be on display through Aug. 27. Admission is free and the gallery is open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ■

BIRTHDAY ���� ���� 14

and I was ready to settle down.’

“He called her up out of the blue, asked her out on a date and they celebrated their 21st birthdays together.

“And what do you know? He also proposed to her that night while they were hanging out in a graveyard.

“‘I never found another guy that could kiss quite like the way he did,” Kay said.”

In the last year, Kay suffered the loss of her great-kissing soulmate.

“They were high school sweethearts and best friends,” Gutierrez said. “We just lost my dad to cancer last August, so this will be her very �irst birthday without them celebrating together since she was 17 years old.”

The youngest of Joe and Kay’s two daughters said, “I wanted to give her something to smile about which is what my dad was always best at.”

After ruling out the stripper, she was thrilled when Mesa Fire Station No. 217 on Baseline and Signal Butte roads said they would stop by to help Kay celebrate.

There’s yet another twist to this story, the daughter reveals:

“The Mesa Fire Department used to do their training across the street from Mom’s home in Mesa several years ago. We would catch Mom ‘peeking’ at them through her big front window during training days,” Gutierrez said.

Joe let his wife get her kicks, the daughter said. As an electrician, he was hard to “shock” – especially with his tough-guy background.

“My dad was a state trooper and a Navy veteran and de�initely had an awesome sense of humor! He knew what she was doing but never said anything to her, just laughed.” Having the �ire�ighter help celebrate her birthday was a thrill for her mother, Gutierrez said.

“She thought it was amazing. My mom was so excited when the �ire department showed up,” Gutierrez said. Again, it was a boost on the �irst birthday she hasn’t shared with her soulmate in more than a half-century.

“It helped get her through,” the daughter said. “She was very happy. She was very touched.”

Aug. 5 will be another bittersweet day for Kay: That marks the 54th anniversary of her wedding date.

The couple moved to Mesa in 1990 on their 23rd anniversary. ■

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JUST A CLICK AWAY

Although the pet population always increases during kitten season – when shelters and rescues are �looded with litters from unaltered cats – Colello said this year is worse.

One reason may be that animals adopted during lockdowns at the height of the pandemic last year are now being abandoned. Moreover, many adoption events were canceled last year.

Colello said she noticed a correlation between the pandemic and amount of pregnant cats and kittens on the streets.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of people may have picked up kittens off of the street, didn’t get the kitten �ixed, the kitten got pregnant and shooed out the door,” Colello said. “We’re �inding a lot of dumped pregnant cats and we know they were formerly pets because they are approachable. Strays are approachable, ferals are not.”

Due to the pandemic and a national veterinary shortage, many veterinary clinics were temporarily closed, shut down, no longer taking new clients, not accepting walk-ins, or booked for long periods of time. Hence, many strays were not being �ixed.

“People weren’t able to get their cats spayed or neutered,” Colello said.

Closures and limited veterinary services weren’t just hard on pet owners but also impacted Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs, said Amber Gries, intake coordinator for Kattered Tails.

TNR is a humane and effective way to stabilize outdoor cat populations by which feral cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, and then released into their colony environment, according to the AHS.

TNR programs help reduce cat overpopulation without the need for euthanasia. It also reduces displeasing mating behaviors such as yowling and spraying.

“Vets were shut down,” Gries said. “Even now, I know people who do trapping, neutering and releasing and they can’t get appointments right now because vets are booked several weeks out.

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“When you’re a trapper, you don’t have that much time to sit on a cat you trap. You have to get it in and release it. Feral cats can’t be caged for very long. It’s making the overpopulation cycle so much worse.”

The average mature cat can have three litters with a total 12 kittens per year, making it possible to have nearly 200 kittens in her lifetime, according to the AHS.

“We want to stop the cycle,” Gries said.

The mission of Kattered Tails is “to rescue cats and kittens left behind for whatever reason within local communities and shelters where there is high risk of euthanasia due to overpopulation, abuse, neglect, abandoned or homeless strays.”

However, there is only so much that Kattered Tails can do without community support. Donations have signi�icantly faltered for the rescue, which they rely on to keep operating.

“Lack of funding happened,” Gries said. “We’re basically out of money.”

In the beginning of the pandemic, Kattered Tails received a lot of community support and there was an increase of adoptions during lockdowns, Colello said. Yet, over time adoptions slowed and people lost their jobs, which meant money stopped coming in.

“Almost everything is out-of-pocket now,” Colello said.

Kattered Tails goes through about 75 pounds of cat food per week, Colello said. Gries has 16 foster cats and kittens in her house alone. Formula and wet food for kittens costs more and she goes through four cans twice a day for six kittens.

Kattered Tails provides the food for all of their fosters, along with litter boxes and more, unlike most rescues where foster parents are often responsible for all caretaking costs, Gries said.

“If people are going to foster for you then you need to provide for them,” Colello said.

Kattered Tails relied on social media outlets to get kittens adopted when adoption events were canceled, Gries said.

However, social media isn’t enough. Cats are not being adopted fast enough and the rescue can no longer keep up with the in�lux of homeless pets.

“I’ve been turning away people,” Gries said. “We can’t take in more cats without more fosters and funding.” Pet overpopulation worsened and at one point the rescue had over 100 cats and kittens in care from around the Valley, Colello said. Now, with 80 cats and kittens in care, Kattered Tails needs help more than ever. “For a while we didn’t have to put out a plea for food, but now we’re desperate for donations,” Colello said. Even though Kattered Tails is not currently intaking, their agreement with Petco Love (formerly The Petco Foundation) requires they take in any kitten dropped off at Petco, Colello said, “whether we have room or not.” They also pull from Yuma’s euthanasia list because there are no rescues there.

Kattered Tails has plenty of cats and kittens waiting to be loved. They are all spayed, neutered, tested for FIP and FeLV, microchipped, vaccinated, dewormed, and cleared by a vet for adoption.

“That’s especially why we need funding so badly too,” Gries said. ■

Among the cats being cared for by Kattered Tails is Juno, also known as Junebug, whom the rescue describes as “a marvelous cat with tons of personality.” (Kattered Tails) “Stella is a fun and exciting little girl with a beautiful gray tabby coat,” Kattered Tails says. (Kattered Tails)

How to help

To help Kattered Tails save lives, donations can be made via PayPal at katteredtails. com/donate. For adoption or foster information: katteredtails.com

Kattered Tails is looking for volunteers aged 16 and up to help maintain the adoption habitat at the Petco, located at 3452 W. Chandler Blvd. Volunteers of all ages are welcome at their adoption events as well.

To volunteer for Kattered Tails, �ill out their volunteer application at https://katteredtails.com/volunteer-application

Contact Paul Maryniak at 480-898-5647 or pmaryniak@timespublications.com