Our regular followers know how much Home-Tech adores our furry friends and causes that support them. One of our very favorite and most cherished causes is ARC (Animal Refuge Center). We love being involved with fundraising events for ARC and we’re even prouder to be a major sponsor. If you’ve toured around the Home-Tech facility in Ft Myers, then you know that you could run into a cute dog around any corner – not only do we love our well-behaved dogs brightening the halls of Home-Tech, we encourage it.
Home-Tech is all about rescuing homeless pets – so, we’re super excited about Adopt-A-Cat Month. ARC is celebrating kitties by offering a special discounted rate on cat and kitten adoptions that includes shots, spay/neuter, microchip, and even a free month of pet insurance! The rate has dropped from $65.00 to only $4.00! What better time to cuddle a kitty?
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Home-Tech Walks the Walk (And the Pet)
Many of our employee owners are known dog lovers, but we’re all about our feline friends, too. In fact, our own Service Agreement Sales Manager, Tracey Hendershott, who does double duty as Board President at ARC, has provided shelter and love to hundreds of kittens and cats. She says, “Who needs a kitty? You do! It’s kitten season – that means that a lot of cats are mating right now. Summer has struck.
There are at least 25 kittens at ARC currently looking for homes. Also mark your calendars for the Bark and Bowl – July 18th – 10 am to 12pm. Kids ages 5 – 15 can come and bowl. It’s a bowl-a-thon and the kids are looking for sponsors to pay for every pin they knock down. It’s at Pinstreet Bowling Center, 4140 Fowler Street in Fort Myers. And don’t forget about the ARC calendar auction which starts June 15 – July 15th. Check this out on our website if you are interested in your pet being featured for a month in the ARC calendar.”
Here Kitty, Kitty
In fact, your very own Home-Tech blogger can relate – there are two darling black cats at my house – though there was only supposed to be one. Sixteen years ago when I was sharing a home with an ex-boyfriend, he insisted that we needed a cat. Not only that, he’d already chosen a name for our dream kitty – he wanted to call him/her “Pony”. I was resistant – we were so busy, working multiple jobs – could we really handle a furry new addition?
The answer came when an old friend, Terry Tilley, who at the time was the Executive Director of the Naples Humane Society, called out of the blue and said he needed help. A pregnant stray Mama cat crossing Airport-Pulling Road in Naples had been the victim of a hit and run. NHS rescued her, but she was in bad shape – ready to give birth, with both back legs and her hip broken.
The veterinarian at NHS took her litter of four kittens by cesarean section – all lived, but had to be carefully nursed by bottles as Mama was recovering, but she still too weak to feed her babies. Terry set to work to find her little kittens forever homes. One call was to me, “You told me you were considering a kitten named Pony – well, I think I’ve found her.” He then told me the story of the Mama cat and the kittens saved – I was hooked. “Of course, we’ll take a kitten!” I told him.
Terry said that he would bring Pony to me. We could meet at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in Fort Myers, China Fuji. When we got there, Terry told me that Pony was safe in her carrier in the van (it was early December – not hot, not cold – she was comfy) and suggested we have a drink before I met her. He bought me a “Headhunter”, which is basically seven different liquors with a splash of fruit punch. After our drink, I told him I was ready to take Pony home. “But, we’re having so much fun,” he said, “One more cocktail!” I happily agreed.
Just a few minutes later, when I was particularly light on my feet from “Headhunters”, we went out to Terry’s van to meet Pony. Much to my surprise, there were TWO kittens in the carrier. “Oh, don’t mind Pony’s twin sister,” Terry said. “I only brought her to keep Pony company. You know, she’s black, like Pony, so she’ll be hard to adopt out because most people have superstitions about black cats, and she and Pony are the only two of the litter left, but that’s okay! Just take Pony and I’ll take her sweet, darling sister back to the shelter with prayers that she might be adopted.”
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the rest of the story.
Sixteen years later, Pony and her twin sister have been a part of my family and I couldn’t be happier. Yes, I had to be tipsy to say yes to adopting my two sweet kitties, but sometimes one needs a little nudge in the form of very hard fruit punch. You may be wondering though – Pony already had a name – what about her sister? Well, we went back in and consulted the owner of China Fuji, who suggested “Lalai” – she told us it meant “good luck”.
And indeed – so far, so good. Happy Adopt-A-Cat month. We here at Home-Tech hope you get lucky in June.