Inability to access services:​

Back at the beginning of September, I met with County Commissioner Jen Strebbs after making her aware at a town hall that our taxpayer funded county shelter (KCASE) had been operating without spay/neuter services since January 2025 - because they rely on a private organization (Kalamazoo Humane Society) whose vets, along with many administrative staff, all quit. Obviously, I am not a member of either of these organizations so I don't know the full details, but what I do know is what the general public would know...

Because KHS was no longer offering spay/neuter services, animals from KCASE were adopted out with a voucher for surgery (because you cannot adopt out unaltered pets without one in the state of MI), and the Humane Society, the only high volume/low cost clinic in the county, wasn't doing any surgeries or clinic services for nearly a year. 

Now say you get a pet, and you need to get them spayed or neutered, the responsible thing to do! You could do what we do, and drive to Eaton County Humane Society. They don't require residency, however, it's an hour drive away from Kalamazoo (same with CSnip, another option in Grand Rapids) - there and back in the morning to drop them off, and there and back in the afternoon to pick them back up. And if you did get that spay/neuter voucher from KCASE, it likely won't cover the full cost... let alone gas money and 4 hours of your time to get there. I don't know about you but I don't know many humans who would be excited about that prospect... let alone for a cat they find that isn't even theirs when they're just trying to do the right thing. 

But hey - if you are lucky enough to get an appointment for low-cost/high volume spay neuter surgery at KHS, what if you can't afford it?! Luckily, there are awesome local organizations who help with that as well - such as Animals Best Friend Fund, who tirelessly fundraise year round to provide vouchers to folks in need of spay/neuter surgery for their pets! They offer fully funded surgery vouchers to community members in Kalamazoo and Van Buren Co. in need... except KHS is no longer accepting them. 

Inability to provide food:

Now let's say you found an animal, or have an animal, that you need help to feed. Kalamazoo Humane Society operates a food bank for pets (presumably the only service they offered while not having an on-staff veterinarian, but still operating with paid staff). However, you need an ID (which is a common barrier - "populations that are already marginalized and underserved are made further vulnerable because they lack forms of official identification that enable them to secure vital benefits and resources, effectively making them invisible to health and social services"), and you need to get yourself to their building on River St. on a Tuesday or Thursday between 10-3pm, during normal working hours, another barrier.

They also REQUIRE pets utilizing the food bank to be spayed or neutered!!  Which I absolutely don't disagree with the concept of - but if you're going to require something that is nearly impossible, as it was last year, perhaps you need to rework your guidelines to meet the current reality. So again, I'm not sure I know of any humans who are needing assistance feeding their pets who are going to be able to jump through all these hoops for a bag of food once a month. And while it really is great that they offer this program - it isn't the fantastic solution people make it out to be. 

After a recent Facebook post about our 'No-Flea Market' at Kzoo Cat Cafe and Rescue - we received over 35 requests for assistance, including spay/neuter, and as I was emailing with the director of KHS, I asked if they indeed did stop taking ABF vouchers. He asked for contact info, and I sent my list - and never heard back. Nor did any of the folks on my list. 

Lack of Housing

NOW let's say you are facing homelessness like many of the people who contact us for help... there are NO viable options in Kalamazoo for temporary boarding. Humans are essentially forced to give up on beloved family members because, even if they are lucky enough to have access to resources for themselves - there are NO AREA SHELTER programs that allow pets.

Last summer, another local private shelter, Animal Rescue Project "launched an initiative called "Keeping people and pets together" and a corresponding $2 million dollar fundraising campaign" according to this article - including "hundreds of thousands" from The Zhangs (who also contributed to the Humane Society's $5 million brand new building in 2019). Awesome, right? 

Except two separate individuals who I know who reached out were NOT able to access any services. Why? Because the Director of Operations at ARP, stopped replying to emails from them, and from me after asking if these individuals were 'part of the gospel mission program'. 

So I reached out to the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission - a local organization that describes themselves as "a multi-campus, comprehensive ministry reaching those in our community in need of hope and healing... We offer shelter, food and a helping hand".  Their Director of Human Resources replied to my inquiry... "In the past there has been a few guests in our next steps program (two to be exact), who have worked with Animal Rescue Project to house their pets while going through our program. This is not something we at KGM have helped facilitate.".... excuse me!? 

The Mission, according to their 2023-2024 annual report helped 150 individuals in "programming". To my (admittedly limited) knowledge, there are many many unhoused individuals who are either unable to or not comfortable seeking support from a religiously affiliated organization with extremely strict rules and guidelines and which does not allow any guests with animals. 

So I emailed the HR Director and President/CEO of the Mission, the Board President and Director of Operations at ARP, the Zhangs and a news contact...

"So, let me get this straight... 

ARP fundraised based on their "Keeping People and Pets Together" program, but the Gospel Mission (although mentioned in the article) does not help facilitate this program? And only folks registered with the Gospel Mission can take advantage of this program? Does the Mission promote this program?? What are they supposed to do with their pets until their 'enrollment' is verified? How many people can the Mission accept - isn't there a waitlist?!  What about folks who are not comfortable going to the Mission due to safety concerns or a myriad of other very valid reasons?? 

How do you expect to facilitate this program if you won't even help this one person? What is the $800,000 for?? TWO people...? There isn't even any info on either website about this program either... Although the news article links directly to the ARP website... This runaround and lack of transparency is extremely concerning.

I'd love some more info, as these are folks we are actually trying to help, and this is not the first person who has contacted us after only meeting dead ends contacting ARP.

Thanks,
Abbey"

and I got a fake 'cease and desist' back, calling me aggressive, and accusing me of coming at them with "edginess, aggressiveness, nastiness, and presumption".... asking why I don't just help this person myself... super transparent and totally not defensive guys. Thanks for all the info about this "program" - sounds like it's going to be super successful!  

So what happens when the average community member doesn't have the time to deal with all this runaround, and get no for an answer from every shelter, every organization that's supposed to be able to help?? Animals get dumped (case and point, that was the situation which led to the cats being dumped at OUR door), humans choose not to utilize services for themselves (taking advantage of housing, IF they are able to, without their pets, or even receiving VITAL medical care because there is no one to take care of their pets while they are in the hospital) or the humans and their animals are left to the elements. In Michigan. Year-Round. These are very real, and very frequent examples, and just the ones I know about. 

I won't speak for other shelters, but we aren't in the business of separating families. We want to help keep families together - but what can we do!? We don't have extra space. We don't have extra resources. We are already helping as many cats as we can.  

Housing instability, food instability, lack of much needed care... This is the reality for people trying to take care of pets in this community.

The big names with the big bucks aren't doing enough. While there are some services, there are too many barriers. There is no oversight, no centralization, no consequences, no communication... and I don't have all the answers. I spend almost every waking moment I'm not working trying to take care of people and their pets... I work two part time jobs and run a rescue in my 'spare' time (without a multi-million dollar facility, or taxpayer funding) and use every penny of all my own resources to help animals already. But something NEEDS to be done. I'm not interested in sympathy, or charity - but we need solutions for this community and their pets. And fast. 

So what can we do?!

✔ Do what you can to help... if you can't adopt - foster! If you can't foster - donate! If you can't donate - volunteer! If you can't volunteer - you can educate!! Find more info on our donate page.

✔ Speak out, and speak up! I've been in contact with the Kalamazoo County Commission, the Kalamazoo City Commission, the director of Kalamazoo County Animal Services and Enforcement, the new City Manager and the media (my statement to the city commission, and my follow-up email pt 1 and pt 2) for the last 5 months. It takes a village and one person can't change the whole system. We need support, we need to amplify that this is a serious and ongoing crisis and that we need accountability, and we need solutions!!

✔ Be aware of who/what organizations you support. I cannot stress enough that this is NOT about bashing other orgs. There are some GREAT people doing great work in Kalamazoo... but not without issues and criticism. And some won't believe me, but I've included links, screenshots, email correspondence... it's all the information I have.

I am incredibly privileged to have a roof over my head and be able to care for my pets, and I volunteer my time DIRECTING A RESCUE, and I can't even get a straight answer. Imagine navigating the systems in place for HUMANS (which is a whole other can of worms) AND dealing with this red tape and all these needless hoops to jump through trying to take care of your beloved pets at the same time.

In our little 1800 square foot volunteer run building on Westnedge, we house and care for cats, we provide food and litter (no questions asked, except do you need other services) to the community, we're driving 4 hours in a day for spay/neuter surgery, and we do what we can every single day for people and pets.

And what we can't do, we help by referring people to other resources in the community - and ALL THIS is what we're met with. Kalamazoo needs to do better.

And if I'm wrong, about anything, I would LOVE to be corrected.

You know who you are, and you all have my contact info ;)