A couple months ago Toni got an urgent call from two sisters, Jenny and Becky. The young women had just rescued a motherless litter of five 2-3 day old kittens that a neighbor found in her backyard. They wanted to know how to care for the newborns. Toni gave the sisters detailed instructions, but gently…
In her own words, longtime foster Heidi Hofer reflects on her foster experiences: When our daughter first asked to foster kittens my answer was a resounding “no”! Our family already had a dog and a cat as well as three teenagers, and my husband and I both worked demanding full-time jobs. Although we all adored…
It was an early Saturday night in SF, and Jo’s date was set to arrive in an hour for a fancy night out. Primping and polishing had begun, when Jo got an urgent call from Toni: five kittens and a mom needed a foster home ASAP! Could Jo help? With her priorities in perfect alignment,…
Kristen Hall learned about TKR as a cat volunteer at SFACC. TKR founder Toni Sestak — who can spot a good kitten foster from 100 yards — had a cat chat with Kristen soon after she started volunteering. And what do you know, for the next 7 kitten seasons (7 years), Kristen has fostered from…
“I love it when a group of kittens is crawling up my pant legs into my lap,” says Kit Kubitz about his foster experience. “You put one down and bam, he crawls right back up again.” Kit is a retired attorney, 25 year volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center, does wildlife transport for Marin’s Wildcare,…
The French flair for food and fashion is well known. Now French-American Cybele Dolan has introduced TKR to fostering among the jet-set. Born in the U.S., Cybele grew up in Montreal where her Dad owned a factory. With mice. Late afternoon one Friday Dad got a cat to live at the factory. Pops carried the…
Story submitted by Amey Garber. In the fall of 2016, I was told that there was a mother cat and her six (!) sick kittens in the Isolation room at Animal Care and Control. This large family needed to get out of a small cage and into a home as soon as possible. They were…
As TKR’s chief administrator for the last 10 years, Linda Hmelo handles TKR’s foster parent communications, grantwriting, record-keeping and managing supplies. But she started with TKR in 2002 as a spur-of-the-moment foster. Linda’s first experience as a kitten foster came when she was a child. A stray pregnant mom cat showed up at her family’s…
After working 12 years in veterinary medicine and 25 years in Public Health, Susie Reichert Wong retired and immediately started volunteering at San Francisco Animal Care and Control (SFACC). It is a match of soulmates. Susie loves animals and has always had them in her life. At present, Susie and her husband have two cats,…
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” When Mahatma Ghandi uttered those profound words, he may have been anticipating the nobility of TKR, Toni’s Kitty Rescue. It’s a cruel world out there, but we can take comfort from knowing that pockets of compassion…
