Ben Madilynn
This past week, Paws and Claws Cat Rescue facilitated an intake of twenty felines, adults and kittens, serving the greater animal welfare community through direct support. This life-saving intake ushered Paws and Claws over the threshold of 2,000 felines saved since its founding in 2020. As a small, grassroots organization and the sole feline-focused animal shelter in Evanston, reaching 2,000 cats saved is a tremendous milestone, for the organization and for the community.
“One of these cats rescued today is the 2,000th cat saved since Ashlynn founded the organization in May of 2020, which is a massive milestone, especially considering being a small organization and up until a year and a half ago, completely foster based. It’s a very big deal, and just the tip of the iceberg as far as what we’ll be able to do next year and the years following,” said Sean Johnson, Director of Shelter Operations.
Paws and Claws has close partnerships with municipal shelters in the Chicagoland area and across the nation, primarily those facing overcrowding. This transport of cats, previously at imminent risk of euthanasia, arrived from various shelters across Indiana including the Humane Society of Elkhart County, Humane Society of St. Joseph County and South Bend Animal Resource Center. The partnerships with these shelters are critical.
“All have an animal control contract with the government or act as animal control for the county. All have a commitment to the community to take in every animal that comes to them regardless of whether they have space or not. All of them are nearing or at ‘Code Red.’ They have more cats coming in than they have open cages. This leads to crisis,” said Ashlynn Boyce.
Paws and Claws Cat Rescue is predominantly volunteer run, with a small team of paid staff. Community is a cornerstone of the organization, providing a place for people to come together in service and to experience a sense of support, inclusion, belonging and purpose.
The broad network of volunteers, including fosters, has helped to fuel Paws and Claws’ rapid growth organically.
“In addition to their lives saved, every cat that eventually gets adopted now has a person who is aware of animal welfare and shelter cats. That is a person who can ideally disseminate that information through their community, family and friends. That is the web of indirect effect and more people being aware of the urgent need of space, resources, time, fosters, adopters, volunteers…” said Johnson. “The people that adopt the Paws and Claws cat then go forward in their normal lives, and maybe without even knowing are advocates for cats in need.”
Through its comprehensive programs, Paws and Claws provides opportunities for individuals to make a meaningful impact while also providing tactical professional development opportunities.
“Helping with intake is a lot of fun. I get to help them in their first couple of hours here getting medical care. I help with a lot of other volunteer shifts, including visiting hours. [The more] exposure that I can get to cats before they become adoptable, the better I am able to match people up with cats. The better the match we can make, the more likely it is that it will be a forever home for them,” said Julia Bozza, a volunteer. “I have been learning a lot about vet medicine through doing this, and I am now thinking about going to vet tech school.”
When Boyce founded Paws and Claws, opening the Adoption Center just three years later, she envisioned a place where cats become family and people find joy in companionship through community.
“We’ve adopted out 2,000 animals. That is a lot of families that now have their best friend that they’ve adopted, that’s in their home, growing up with their kids, that’s their partner when they get home from work and is waiting for them by the door. I think that is very special.”
