introducing nuzzles: where love wins

the el gato malo origin story, the tale of where bad cattitude money goes, and a request

you’ve probably never heard of nuzzles. but you should. nuzzles is one of my favorite organizations in the world.

i am not generally a big fan of non-profits. i find many to be more about raising money to throw parties to raise money and pay people to sort of work and sound philanthropic.

this is not that.

these are the other guys.

this is a place that runs on volunteers and small numbers of incredibly dedicated staff many of whom i have the pleasure of knowing personally. it runs on sweat and tears and love. this is a no kill shelter that is leading (and winning) the effort to make utah an entirely no kill state.

this is the place that takes in the hard ones, the injured, the scared, and gets them healed and homed.

and those who have helped so many thousands of animals now need our help. it’s a hard year and donations are down.

bad cattitude is one of nuzzles’ biggest donors. i’m hoping that by reaching out to the readers, we can find a way to do more. because this one is near and dear me. because this one matters.

DONATE

let me show you why.

this is sweet roll, a kitten so young she still has the fuzzies. she was found, hungry and alone and injured. her ear was badly degloved. the shelter who discovered her did not have the resources to treat her and she was going to be euthanized. instead, nuzzles took her in.

this poor little girl was so lonely that she bonded instantly to a stuffed giraffe.

she is impossibly sweet and seems to love everyone. the resilience and optimism of animals can really be a thing to see.

her ear was too damaged to save, but she was not. the vets at nuzzles have fixed her up and she’ll be ready to overwhelm someone’s home soon. this cat is a natural born heart claimer.

these are the sorts of stories you see there.

and there are just so many more.

this is narwal. i had the pleasure of meeting him at the nuzzles gala this year (if one can describe a dinner in a field house at a ranch as a “gala”). i was more taken by him than any dog i’ve met in forever. he just had wonderful galmuphy puppy energy. were he not already spoken for, i might have adopted him myself.

but i had no idea what his story was. he was found wandering alone in the desert outside an indian reservation. someone had cracked his skull, apparently by hitting him in the forehead with a hammer.

words fail me.

nuzzles saved his life. you have to look really closely to even see that it happened (i did not see it until told) and narwal shows no signs of holding any sort of grudge. he’s a happy dog and off to a new life.

that’s what it looks like when love wins.

you do not want to hear the stories about when it doesn’t.

when i lived in UT, i used to volunteer at nuzzles doing feline socialization and helping turn “hiss!” to “meow?” it’s how i came to know lindsay, elysa, the vets, and so many others. it’s how i came to know their board and get involved in their fund raising.

it’s also where the current el gato malo found me, made a strenuous case that she was supposed to be my cat despite my already having one, and ultimately won the debate and joined the family.

this place is special to me. their mission is the pure, unadulterated good fight. and they are in some trouble. it’s a hard year, hard times, and donations are not where they need to be.

this puts programs and animal lives at risk and i would really like to see that avoided. you really do not want to see what happens when these sorts of backstops are not in place.

so look, i hate asking for money but this is a cause for which i will.

sometimes, it’s just plain, simple doing the good that you see needed right in front of you.

you can DONATE TO NUZZLES HERE. or join the LOVE COLLECTIVE.

those without a US address can USE PAYPAL to donate.

(please mark the “in honor of” field as “bad cattitude” so that we can get the bragging rights if this works)

it does not have to be a lot. there are a lot of us in this community and anything you can give helps and the problems that could be solved and animals saved by every BC reader giving $5 or $10 are bigger and more numerous than you might ever believe.

please, peruse their website. watch the whole video from the gala linked above from the beginning. it’s full of amazing stories, amazing animals, and amazing people.

most of all it’s interwoven with an amazing story of love.

see if it moves you.

i hope it does.

thanks guys.