By Lori Kay Lodes
Correspondent
Just ask Missy Snyder, cat care team member and longtime sanctuary volunteer.
Snyder and her daughters, Ruby and Reagan, are longtime fans of the “cat place,” as they call it, regularly visiting its home-like environment over the past few years to take in snuggles and give pets, as well as feed and groom the cats in residence.
Snyder took things to another level when she joined the cat care team in late 2021, while continuing to pop in with her volunteer hat on as well.
Synder said it’s become an all-in-the-family passion as well, and one her and her now-fiance Brian Evans hold close to their hearts.
The couple – who recently got engaged – said they have watched both their shared love of the cats grow as well as their own love story as they volunteer side-by-side at the sanctuary.
“We laugh, because while we didn’t meet at the sanctuary, we have a lot of similarities,” she said. “He and the girls get along perfectly, his kids are almost the same age as my daughters, and he instantly clicked with and loved our two cats.”
Snyder said it may have been a deal breaker because Frostbite and Stargazer are as much part of the family as their human counterparts.
“And when he heard about Safe Haven, he was like, ‘Bring me there. I want to see it,’” Snyder said. “The girls brought him there and he fell in love… and Brian started going there with me all the time.”
Evans’ role at Safe Haven grew as he began spending more and more time there.
Whether it’s furniture assembling, cat pampering or his most recent offer to oversee security as a result of a recent catnapping, Evans is up to his eyes in kitty love as a Safe Haven volunteer.
The couple said because the sanctuary is their second family, it was among the first to know about the couple’s engagement at a beach Snyder said she loves to visit regularly in the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area.
“All of a sudden, he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him,” Snyder said in regards to Evans popping the question. “I said yes! I posted it on Safe Haven’s Facebook page and everyone was so excited.”
The proposal was supposed to take place at the sanctuary, but unforeseen circumstances prevented it. However, the couple said they plan to get married at the sanctuary in about two years.
“The employees and volunteers are totally like a family,” Snyder said. “And we do events at Safe Haven. I even thought about including the cats. Little kittens would be so cute.”
For Synder, seeing how Evans interacted with the sanctuary cats solidified what she said she already sensed about him as a partner and human being.
“You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat an animal,” she said. “It makes my heart so happy to see him with the cats. A lot of times, I just step back and watch. I can’t imagine our lives at home without the cats, or our lives at all without Safe Haven in it.”
Pet sanctuary
The Safe Haven, a no-kill, cage-free cat sanctuary, was founded by Elizabeth Feldhausen five years ago, with a beginning she said is personal.
“When I was younger, I had a cat named Blackie who became disabled, suffering what’s similar to a stroke in humans,” Feldhausen said. “He was unable to walk after, but wanted to live. He was always purring and happy and loving life. But no matter where I turned for help, I wasn’t able to find someone to help him. They kept saying I would have to euthanize him. When I realized no one could help me or an animal like this, I tried to figure out how to do it myself.”
Though it took a while to make the dream a reality, she said she knew she had to give it a try.
“I had to try to see if it could work,” she said. “I couldn’t live with myself without trying.”
Over the past five years, the space has expanded its operations to the recently-vacated spot next door – bringing the facilty to 7,500 square feet, which now features a 2,000-square-foot event space, a new exam room, seven additional quarantine rooms and two offices.
She said the outgrowth now allows the sanctuary to serve not only felines, but dogs as well.
“We now have Denali in the house, and he’s our first dog,” Feldhausen said. “My original plan was to serve cats and dogs, but we weren’t able to find a location we could rent that allowed dogs initially. Now we can.”
Safe Haven staff has also operated the Pawffee Shop Cat Cafe in Appleton for the past three years.
Feldhausen said the volume is the result of several factors.
“Because of our specialization, we even take cats from other parts of the world that have major disabilities or injuries,” she said. “Many times, places won’t take these animals, because the cost outweighs the ability to save the animal. As a result, we have cats with diabetes, partial paralysis, thyroid issues and other things people don’t often realize cats suffer from. We have specialized training to help with these things.”
Feldhausen said the sanctuary was also able to welcome a veterinarian and board-certified, high-volume surgeon to the team, which she anticipates will allow them to to help even more animals.
“I never imagined Safe Haven would be as big as it’s become,” she said. “I thought I’d have a small place with maybe 20 animals, and it just blew up. As I learn more, the more I want to help, and do things that nobody else in the animal rescue world does. We’ve got to keep going.”
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