One of my goals this year for Frost Fund was to start rescuing cats (in addition to dogs). And by God’s grace, we have started to do just that!! On June 19th, we partnered with the Riverside West shelter to transport seven cats from their overcrowded facilities to the requesting Boulder Humane Society in Colorado. But how did all this get started? I am glad you asked – and I hope you will read on to learn just how amazing, complicated, and stressful of an experience this was!

In April, I was contacted by the shelter director at Boulder Humane asking if Frost Fund would be able to bring them cats from California, as Colorado adoption rates are so high and their shelter is continually in need of animals! (How nice must that be!?) Of course, I said yes, but inside I truly didn’t know exactly how this was going to all come together.

To start, we have never transported or rescued cats before (let alone move them across state lines). Secondly, we did not have any funds available allowing us to do so and unfortunately, Boulder Humane is currently unable to assist financially with these rescues. So, it was all on us to figure out how to make this happen and get the funds to do so. But if it meant saving the lives of seven cats, Frost Fund was going to make it happen!

Thankfully, we have an amazing driver named April who is always ready and willing to step up for transport using her own vehicle. So I knew we had that covered. But what I didn’t realize was the amount of paperwork, medical clearances, emails, phone calls, vet check ups, liability, organizations, emotions, and additional time/resources such a rescue requires. To put it simply, these are not streamlined and there are many moving parts when dealing with live animals, transport, care, and changing schedules.

However, one of our amazing supporters stepped up to donate the almost $2,000.00 required to make this rescue happen. These funds included the purchasing of new carriers, food and water bowls, toys, blankets, litter, letterboxes, cleaning supplies, gas, driving time, coordination, and more. We are so grateful to this individual for helping Frost Fund make this happen. Talk about a Frost Fund angel.

Throughout the rescue , I worked with Woof Project to learn some inside scoops on how to carry out a successful interstate transfer, had many meetings with Boulder Humane/Riverside West, and ultimately did a lot of praying, planning, and patience building. They helped us a lot and were integral in making this rescue happen.

On the day of the rescue, I picked up the seven cats (4 of them kittens) from the Riverside shelter around 3:00pm. They were then taken directly to another amazing volunteer’s house (and our go to cat fosters, Natalie and Rob Schaeffler) where they would spend the next seven hours relaxing, playing, and stretching their legs before the long drive. During this time they were able to play and we could see their unique personalities coming out one by one! I couldn’t bare to think that any one of these was at risk of euthanasia just hours earlier.

Then, around 10:00pm, April picked them up and they were off to Beaver, Utah! Once they arrived there, John (a Frost Fund volunteer), and his friend Jay then loaded them up in their car and drove the cats the rest of the way.

Now, we understand this is a long time in a crate and in a car. And yes, it was hard for me to not worry about everyone involved, especially the cats during this process. But ultimately, their lives all depended on this successful transport. Upon arriving to Boulder, they were all adopted soon after!! Over half were adopted within 7-12 days and the rest within 3 weeks. What an absolute blessing!

And one of the coolest parts was, each cat on Boulder’s website had a special Frost Fund bio shared underneath their adoption information. Just reading this alone made my heart burst with joy and gratefulness. And sometimes I still pinch myself thinking, did we actually just do that? What moved me even more is that Boulder named one of the kittens after me – WHAT?! At the end of everything, all of the stress, planning, and coordinating was more than worth it to save the lives of these precious angels. And we know this is just the beginning.

So, thank you to everyone who continues to support us. But from the bottom of my heart, I am asking if you have it in yours today to consider making a donation so that we can do more of these in the future. In the long run, it is our goal to purchase a transport vehicle so that we can more effectively and easily move animals in larger quantities to incredible states like Colorado who have plenty of space and adopters just waiting for them.

If you would like to give today, please consider doing so via Venmo: @frost_fund, Zelle/Paypal: teamfrostfund@gmail.com, or on our website. All donations are tax deductible.

In the meantime, check out the video reel from this exciting rescue and make sure to follow us on Instagram! That is the best way to stay updated!!