Our History

 

Solving a Problem

 

Our story starts in 2002 when a small group of friends were trying to sterilize a large and rapidly growing colony using TNR (trap, neuter, return). Marsha worked at an office that backed up to the townhouse complex where Sharon (nickname:Caly) lived. They met one day through a feral tomcat. As they were yelling at each other about all the stray cats they realized they were both trying to solve the problem so they banded together and have been fast friends ever since. Marsha’s officemates were involved and she drafted her kids to do transport. It was all working well until the day we realized…

A neighbor had decided the best solution was to start poisoning the cats. That was the end of the “R” in TNR. What do you do when you can’t release feral cats and you aren’t willing to put them down? You learn to tame and socialize them. We didn’t know enough to know that it couldn’t be done with adult feral cats – so we did it.

 

Starting to Grow

 

Sharon had a group of friends who were scattered all over the country. They kept in touch via a private message board (remember, this was before social media!) and a chat room. Each night they wanted to know what was new with “Caly’s Cats” and offered their experience and advice. Sharon had been a dog person, and was quickly learning that cats weren’t just a different kind of dog. The name stuck and we started to offer our “graduates” for adoption. We had a great venue at Stanford Shopping Center for a couple of years!

 

A few dogs came their way from owners looking for help to rehome them. Scott got involved in building enclosures to house the “trainees” and brought his experience and involvement with German Shepherd rescue. He had a cat, Smokey, who used to check out the dogs and explain to them that cats were the top of the pecking order.

Then…they found out about horse slaughter and the focus expanded again. It wasn’t long before Caly’s Cats was involved with cats, dogs and horses in need.

 

The Problem Becomes a Calling

 

During the first few years, Sharon's mother, Helen was recovering from a stroke. Sharon was with her every day and often brought cats and kittens with her to visit. The other patients loved the cats and the cats loved the attention. The mission expanded. Now it was about sharing the animals with people who couldn’t adopt them. There are a lot of dogs who do “visitation” and “therapy” but not many cats. Most cats think a ride in the car is a really bad idea, because it usually ends at the veterinarian. But Caly’s cats grew up being hauled around, and most of the time they came out of the crate to someone who wanted to cuddle them. A much better deal, from the cat’s perspective.

And the horses…some of the horses that were rescued had physical issues that meant they were no longer considered “useful.” But there is something magical that happens with horses and people with troubles. A visit to the horses by a young boy who’d been molested opened our eyes to that magic.

 

The Calling Turns into a Mission

 

Gradually it became clear – this is more than “just a cat rescue.” This is a sanctuary. We may not yet have a single piece of property to bring this all together in one place, but it is a sanctuary nonetheless. Helen’s Haven a place for animals and people to find healing with each other.