Beth’s Blog

When Instagram went down earlier this month — at the same time that Facebook was undergoing intense public scrutiny — people around the world felt the impact. Many pointed out the serious problems with social media, and I agree — there are many. But like everything we humans invent, social media can be used for both good and ill. And when it comes to animal rescue, the positive far outweighs the negative.

I have a new boyfriend and his name is Ringo Starr. He’s a soulful ginger Tabby with eyes designed to melt hearts. But like most boyfriends, he’s not perfect, which is why adopters at North Shore Animal League America have been passing him by for more than a year! In the world of animal rescue, Ringo is one of the “less-adoptables,” which means, of course, I love him!

August, also known as “DOGust,” is a busy month for pet people. Besides being Immunization Awareness Month, it’s chock-full of special dog and cat “holidays,” each reminding us of the importance of caring for the precious animals in our lives. But for me, this month is special for another reason: I will always think of August as the Month of the Sparrow.

Summertime is supposed to be a season of fun in the sun and lazy days with lots of time to do all the things you love, like reading, walking on the beach, and gardening…or just plain doing nothing at all. But for people dedicated to animal rescue, summer can be frustrating and heartbreaking. Let me begin with Independence Day!

If you Google the topic, some sites say that May is National Pet Foster Month, while others say its June, which also happens to be Adopt a Shelter Cat Month. None of this really matters, because for people who love to share the love, calendars are irrelevant. So with kitten season in full swing and shelters bursting with cats of all ages, this is a perfect moment to talk about fostering homeless cats and kittens, a topic that makes my heart full and hopeful.

May is the perfect month to celebrate motherhood, because in spring, Mother Nature orchestrates rebirth everywhere, from trees, flowers, and hummingbirds to kittens, kittens, and more kittens!!

April is the cruelest month, the poet says. But for us, the most emotional month we’ve had in a long time was March. While our fosters bring us tremendous joy, they sometimes break our hearts too. In March, with our hospice foster Dignity and our beautiful Mama Cherry Blossom, the great circle of life played out in detail and drama right before our eyes.

Twelve months ago, few of us even thought about words like lockdown, quarantine, face mask, self-isolation, and social distancing. Today, of course, they’re part of our everyday conversations. The global pandemic has changed so much in our world, some things for the better and other things, well, not so much. For me — on the bright side — being home has given me more time to bond with our resident cats, plus I’m able to spend lots of quality time with my fosters. For that, I’m grateful.

I always say they have my heart. All of my sweet nuggets, no matter their age, their stories, or their quirky personalities — each one of them captures my heart in a unique way, and when they fly to their forever homes, they always take a piece of my heart with them.

People say that 2020 is the year we all want to forget...but will always remember. It’s true: 2020 was tough. But despite the challenges, I find myself remembering many of the year’s surprising silver linings, like the people who decided to make working from home truly meaningful by fostering homeless pets. And then there were all those great adoptions.