The rescuers: meet Cat Friends

We are very excited to start a new series of posts in which we will introduce you to the local rescue organizations we work with. Our partner rescuers will tell you a bit about themselves, how they got started in the rescue field, and other fun tidbits. (Some of the entries are being submitted to me in Bulgarian and I am translating the content). 

Introducing: Cat Friends

My name is Maria and I am one of the two people responsible for Cat Friends (located in Sofia, Bulgaria). My responsibilities with the organization include maintenance of the Facebook page, administrative duties, handling mail and email, coordinating adoptions abroad and travel of the animals being adopted, and (of course!) daily cat care and trips to the vet with the many sick and injured souls we help. By profession I'm an IT specialist and I work full time in the communications field. I do all rescue work on my own time, before and after work, nights and weekends. I studied in Germany for 2 of my college years which now helps me communicate in German with donors, adopters, and supporters of our organization.

I've loved animals all my life and 10 years ago became actively involved in animal rescue. This is how my first cat rescue case progressed... In the fall of 2003 I was walking through the yard of the building where I lived and came across 4 ill kittens - they had horrible diarrhea and their eyes were sticking shut due to terrible eye infection. I started bringing them food to gain their trust. One day one of the babies fell down into an abandoned basement and broke a leg, one kitten got a fungal infection. I took them to the vet for treatment and thus started the journey of learning more about veterinary illnesses and local vet offices than I had ever imagined I'd know! (Even though our organization works with cats, along the way I have been personally helping dogs as well; the first doggie whom I rescued after he was hit by a car and for whom I found a home I met during my college days)

In 2007 I became the co-founder of Cat Friends. Soon I realized how important to the rescue effort spay and neuter is. My dream remains to some day have a mobile spay and neuter van with which we could travel to poor and remote areas of the country, sterilizing animals, educating people, and preventing homelessness at its root. Our organization is small, completely run by volunteers who share a passion for rescue and persistently, with lots of love save one animal at a time. Over the years, this has added up to a significant number of cats helped! Balancing our rescue work with full time jobs, family responsibilities, and a personal life can be very challenging. But there is nothing more rewarding than knowing that as a result of our efforts, animals who have been homeless, sick, and abused are now safe, healthy, and loved in wonderful homes!