our story

Being a kennel cleaner was the most transformative job I have ever had.

Working in an animal shelter in the 2000’s I was blown away by the amount of death. Cats streaming in all day long, being stacked up in carriers along the “euthanasia wall” and holding them down while their life was ended- my life was forever changed. I could not believe this was the status quo across the country. Since their inception, animal shelters were created to round up stray dogs, no real thought was given to cats. Loving, caring, compassionate shelter staff, working in a system that was not created to have positive outcomes for animals. A fire was lit inside me- I would dedicate my life to figuring out how to help cats make it out alive, or better yet, never enter a shelter to begin with.

For several years I worked as a veterinary assistant in many different areas of veterinary medicine. Ultimately, I decided at that point in my life, becoming a veterinarian would create the greatest career impact possible.

Over the course of ten years, I worked at some of the most historic and nationally recognized animal welfare organizations. I learned shelter medicine, high quality/high volume spay/neuter and leadership skills from the greatest veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants and kennel cleaners out there. Through it all, the moves, the foster animals, the long days at the shelter, the most important person in my life, my wife, has been there. Her patience, support and incredible grace has created a more humane world for animals. In the past 10 years she has shared our bathroom with more litters of messy, smelly kittens (and puppies, squirrels, hamsters, old dogs) than I can even remember.

Together, we are embarking on a journey to improve the lives of cats in this country by offering community solutions for community cats outside of the shelter walls- please join us.

-Dr Mat