OUR MISSION

Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn, Inc.'s Mission:

To rescue, rehabilitate and find foster and permanent loving homes for stray and unwanted cats and dogs in NYC’s five boroughs. We also participate in NYC’s Animal Care & Control New Hope program, through which we rescue several animals each month off of the euthanasia list.

A Newborn Kitten Dilemma

Hello all!

To catch everyone up, a few months ago a good friend and animal ally, Sonia Zjawinski, brought me into the fold of an awesome TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) group, Slope Street Cats (SSC), who needed a sister organization to help out with their adoptions. I was planning to open a rescue and this was a perfectly timed opportunity to receive guidance and support and provide something in exchange.

Since then, I have put together the paperwork for incorporating with the state, and chosen and reserved the name, Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn, Inc.

This week I received a call from a woman named Donna who had found a momma cat and 5 newborn kittens (less than a day old) in her backyard. 2 of the litter were already deceased and the momma cat had taken one of the surviving kittens to a new location when she caught sight of Donna's German Shep! Donna was afraid that the remaining 2 kittens might be in danger of freezing to death out in the cold, so she brought them inside and put them on a warm blanket. I am not yet a kitten expert so I thought we had made the right choice. I then consulted with several volunteers from SSC and they informed me that the kittens had very little chance of thriving without their momma's milk and needed to be put back out to see if the momma cat would come back for them. So Donna did this and we waited. Meanwhile, I was put in contact with cat rescuer named Rosey who was fostering another momma cat and litter of kittens. As a last resort, Rosey offered to try to integrate these two orphan kittens into the little family she was fostering. Once a few hours had passed and the temp dropped we decided to try Rosey's idea. Luckily the momma cat at Rosey's accepted the new kittens. The newborn kittens are fighting to feed against 4 other 2 week old kittens but they are holding their own,biting and kicking when necessary!

There are small miracles.

And the winner is ...

Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn

Thank you to all who voted, whether or on the blog or by sending me an email...

I'll be in touch as things progress.

Today I reserved the name above with the state of NY.

Later this week I will send off my Certificate of Incorporation.

Woof the Vote!!!

Ok, folks...I am creating a FINAL poll for you to log your vote. This will be your last chance to cuff me to a sappy name for my rescue!
It should be relatively easy since I have opened it up to non-blog users. The poll closes Saturday at midnight, 3/8/08.

Here are the ideas and their proposed sticking points (listed alphabetically, except for the last one added late):

1. April & the Puppycats -
origins: this name was suggested by my friend Tom, who likes to imagine me as a cartoon rock chick, ie Josie and the Pussycats;
pros: good to have April as first word because it will be seen quickly on listing sites; fun & unique name
cons: not sure I want to use my first name

2. Brooklyn's Orphaned Companion Animals (BOCA) -
origins: rip on Sonia's original suggestion (Little Orphaned Animals)
pros: good to have Brooklyn as first word because it will be seen quickly on listing sites
cons; might be too boring and people might think it's in Boca Raton

3 Brooklyn’s Rescued Puppycats -
origins: Tom
pros/cons: similar to above options

4. Mutts and Mitts of Brooklyn (MMOB) -
origins: Me
pros: has a great anacronym; clearly references animals
cons: might not be unique enough, found only these refs below when i googled it:

Mittens and Mutts Rescue in Alabama: http://www.mittensandmutts.com/
Mutts & Mittens / pet product: http://www.muttsandmittens.com/
Mutts and Mittens / shelter in Singapore: http://www.petsfanatics.com/forum/t1200-volunteers-needed-for-mutts-and-mittens-a-animal-shelter.html

5. Smitten Orphaned Animal Rescue (SOAR) of Brooklyn -
origins: rip on Sonia
pros: has a great anacronym; references command-Stay; references rescue
cons: too long?; too cutsey?; "S" far down in listings

6. Assisi Animal Rescue of Brooklyn -
origins: chatting with Anand about the rescue titled "Friends of Bukowski", and we thought of St. Francis of Assisi
pros: "A" will put high in listings, references a Saint-can't go too wrong with that
cons: some people might be like, "Who/Where's Assisi", Answer: italy

Happy Voting,
April