Texas, a Parisian Cat in America

When my human goes to a pet store to buy our food, she cannot help but check on the kitties waiting for their forever humans to come adopt them. It breaks her heart to sometimes see the same kitties grow old in these cages, going from playful kittens to resigned “teenage” cats, to sad adult cats. She would adopt them all if she could, I bet, but besides not having the financial means to do so, she also cares about our well-being. I demand a lot of attention from my human. Yes, I love Kitshka and I enjoy having her to play with, but I need my time alone with my human and she knows that I’d rather have her for myself.

In the meantime, she knows that some people who can afford to adopt a cat, and express the desire to do so, sometimes do not do so for the silliest reasons: how many times has she heard someone tell her that they would love to adopt a kitty, but they abhor the idea of having to clean the litter box every day. Huh?
Sometimes, people just wait because, well, because there are other things happening in their lives, and they think a kitty will be an impediment in their busy life.

Many of these people are good people who would benefit from a cat-human relationship and give much in return to the kitty. But those who have never been owned by a cat do not know the benefit a human and a kitty will get from each other in terms of love, happiness, fun, and so much more.
In addition, they do not gravitate in kitty universe like we cat bloggers do. They don’t go to the pet store every other week, and see the same kitties going from a feeling of “life as fun,” to a feeling of “life in a cage, why?” They do not necessarily know that if some cats do not get adopted, they are killed in some shelters. My human was shocked as a kid when she learned that. Most don’t know. They don’t know about cat overpopulation and shelter overpopulation either.

Why am I telling you all this, on a bloggie that is usually more about my cuteness and fun?

I was contacted on Twitter by the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals to know whether I could help share the meow about an event that will take place next Thursday, September 26. I had not heard of this event, so I thank them for pointing that out.

What is “Remember Me Thursday – Light a Candle for a Pet”? From the website for the event:

“Animal lovers and organizations across the globe unite on the fourth Thursday of September to light a candle in remembrance of the millions of orphan pets who lost their lives without the benefit of a loving home and to shine a light on the millions of orphan pets still waiting for their forever homes.”

—

“Millions of shelter pets lose their lives each and every year. Join the awareness campaign – be a light for pets by promoting awareness about pet adoption. By remembering those we have lost, we can shine a light on the ones we can save.”

[Click here to see the video on YouTube]

From their press release:

Helen Woodward Animal Center is uniting with animal-lovers and animal welfare organizations globally in a Remember Me Thursday candle-lighting ceremony. The candles, lit on the exact same day across the world, will honor the millions of pets who lost their lives over the past year without the benefit of a loving home. Word of the awareness campaign has spread in the form of celebrity social media posts and rescue facilities from New York City to Puerto Rico to Japan have joined the cause.

You can learn more by following both links above.

No, lighting a candle on one night will not give a home to all the animals who are waiting to be adopted. But it raises awareness, and if the word is shared around the word, and candles lighted, chances are that some people will see the message, ask about the candles, and maybe – hopefully – decide to and do adopt an animal.

That is why I decided to share this event with you ahead of time. This is next Thursday.

I have focused this post on kitties because, obviously, this is a cat blog. But there are many different animals waiting to be adopted, which this event will honor.

My human went to the Third Annual “Architects for Animals: Giving Shelter” event last Thursday. This project, which was launched in 2010, aims at helping NYC feral cats:

Every year since 2010, some of New York’s most prestigious architectural designers, through an inventive project called Architects for Animals, have been helping New York City’s feral cats by creating imaginative winter shelters to provide them with a refuge from the cold. We are delighted to present these collections of unique, inspired winter shelters for public viewing at the Architects for Animals: Giving Shelter exhibit before they are placed in locations throughout the city to provide comfort for the cats. This annual exhibition benefits the New York City Feral Cat Initiative of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals.

It was taking place in the place called Manhattan, very close to Columbus Circle.

I would like to start by thanking Sparkle for posting so quickly about the event (that’s how we learned, and we live in NY!), and Tamar of I Have Cat for sending the info to bloggers.

Thankfully, a lot of people showed up; the showroom was crowded.

So of course, my human didn’t even offer to bring me to the event. Okay, there was a LOT of people, but she could have offered still.

My human took the pictures during the event, so the pictures tend to be crowded too. You can see good shots of each shelter at Cat Wisdom 101 and I Have Cat. But here are my human’s.

Leslie Farrell, founder of Architects for Animals, made a short speech to thank everyone. She got a little emotional.

She invited everyone to pick some kibbles at the buffet to put in their favorite shelter’s bowl, in order to vote. Yes, furriends, despite my human pretending there would be only human food at the buffet, there were kitty kibbles!

The first one is by M. Moser Associates. You can click on the third picture to read more about these kitty pods.
See the bowl on the floor? That’s in those that people could vote by throwing kibbles in there.

The following one, Shelter A, was created by Callison Barteluce. You can also click on the third pic to see details (although the quality isn’t that great)

The following one, Swiss Cheese by Stonehill & Taylor, was entirely made of recycled materials.

The next one is a simple, one cat shelter, by H³ Hardy Collaboration Architecture. You can click on this one.

Since this is NYC, it’s only fair that kitties have their skyscraper (okay kinda) too. This one is by Francis Cauffman.

The last one my human took pictures of (apparently, she missed one) is quite original. It is made with recycled cat food cans (yes, cat food cans!) that are insulated. The shelter is made so that 2 to 4 cats can be inside it at the same time, but still not be too close to one another (I am not sure it is very visible on the third picture, but the inside kind of has corners). It was made by the American Street Cat. This shelter is aready being used (check here).

Last but not least, this DIY NYC Cat Fort, by Pilot Projects. Isn’t that cool?! You can find the details here.

My human was glad to see Tamar of I Have Cat and Layla of Cat Wisdom 101, that she had both met at the Rentaneko projection. She was also very glad to meet Kevin and Tracey of Animal Shelter Volunteer Life. I wish I could have meet them too!

All in all, my human says the event appeared to be successful. Let’s hope it will be able to do its part to help NYC feral kitties.

You can find more pictures here, as well as “in progress photos of a habitat for NYC’s homeless animals,” Stonehill & Taylor’s shelter, on Stonehill & Taylor’s Facebook page.