MEOW Cat Rescue (aka Mercer Island Eastside Orphans and Waifs) is a no-kill cat shelter located in Kirkland, WA in the greater Seattle area of Western Washington.
MEOW, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit since 1997, places between 800 and 1000 animals into permanent homes each year.
MEOW (Mercer Island Eastside Orphans and Waifs)
Our Mission
With respect and compassion for all animal life, MEOW promotes lifelong relationships between people and companion animals, providing shelter and care for each precious life until adopted into a forever home.
Our Vision
MEOW envisions a day when society will be free from the dangers and nuisances of irresponsible pet ownership, when every pet born will be assured loving care all of its natural life and will never suffer due to abuse, neglect or ignorance.
Our History
In the early 1990s, a small group of animal-loving friends made a commitment to create a better life for homeless animals. With little more than determination, they started MEOW, a non-profit organization with a no-holds-barred no-kill philosophy. MEOW is staffed almost entirely by volunteers. It’s still all about the animals.
Our Goal
MEOW’s goal is to help create a “no-kill nation,” where people are responsible for their pets, where there are no helpless creatures abandoned in boxes or left to fend for themselves in parking lots, where there is no longer a need for any healthy companion animal to be euthanized. There are many worthy organizations and individuals working toward this end. The rescue network is communicative and non-competitive. Certainly, progress is being made. But there is so very far to go.
Today
MEOW, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit since 1997, places between 800 and 1000 animals into permanent homes each year. Adoption fees from $50 to $150 help defray the cost of care for the animals. Donations from interested individuals, organizations and business provide additional financial support.
Our application process ensures that every adopted animal is placed in an environment where there is appropriate space, human contact, and a commitment to safeguard and care for the animal for its entire lifetime. Our standards are high. The welfare of the animals is paramount in the placement process.
Cats and kittens come from various sources and situations: orphans found under a deck, an abandoned cat crying at the door, pets no longer able to stay with a family because someone has developed allergies or is moving to a place where the cats are not welcome. Some come from the rescue community, finding tame cats and kittens feeding with feral colonies. Newborn or senior, healthy, ill or injured, all are valued at MEOW. Incoming cats and kittens are examined for general health, illness, injury, parasites and tested for feline viral diseases and provided appropriate medical care.
Daily care of cats and kittens is done both in the shelter and in the foster homes of volunteers, sometimes involving bottle-feeding orphans, often requiring intensive medical care of ill animals. MEOW provides a safe haven and socialization as well as proper nutrition and a clean environment while the animals await adoptive homes.
Our volunteers speak with the public, interview prospective adopters, and provide education concerning the care of pets on such subjects as spaying/neutering, introducing a new pet into the family, addressing behavioral issues, proper daily care and well-cat/kitten care.
Each year MEOW is faced with the impossible and each and every day we recommit ourselves to something we truly believe in, the motto we adopted at our inception, “all nine lives are precious.”
Important Tax “Stuff”
MEOW is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Our tax ID is #91-1743911. Our legal name is Mercer Island Eastside Orphans and Waifs. We do business as MEOW Cat Rescue or MEOW. Donations made to MEOW are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
MEOW’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
At MEOW, all are welcome, as employees and volunteers, as adopters, visitors and supporters – all races, ethnicities and nationalities, all genders, orientations, and sexual preferences, all capabilities and disabilities. All who love and respect animals are family to us.
Our care team includes diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The care of the animals is at its best with the unique perspective that each of us brings. Likewise, we celebrate the differences represented among our adopters. The welfare of the animals is paramount and placement is without prejudice.
Board of Directors
Board President
Joni Cervenka
Employer- Farmers Life Insurance, Retired
Residence – Seattle
Board Member Since 2004
joni@meowcatrescue.org
I became involved with MEOW in 2003 when we were on Mercer Island. Over the years I have volunteered in the shelter, fostered over 100 cats and kittens, and participated in offsite events. Currently my primary focus is fundraising. I currently share my life with my husband Paul and two MEOW foster fail cats.
Board Vice President
Kelly Starbuck
Employer- Starbuck’s Towing, Previous Owner, Retired
Residence – Mercer Island
Board Member Since 1997
kelly@meowcatrescue.org
I’ve been a part of MEOW’s history since the beginning. I love all animals, but I found that my calling was helping dogs, Chinese Shar Pei in particular. I run the Canine Division of MEOW. We rescue all breeds, but MEOW provides the only Chinese Shar Pei rescue for WA, ID & OR. My husband and I are owned by 3 MEOW dogs, and on any given day we house about 10 foster dogs.
Board Secretary
Steve Hendrickson
Employer- Boeing, Retired
Residence – Bothell
Board Member Since 2004
steve@meowcatrescue.org
I have had the pleasure of being involved with MEOW since 2003. It didn’t take long to realize that this was a very special shelter/rescue group that I very much wanted to be a part of. Our family has fostered hundreds of kittens over the years and each has been very memorable. We currently have six cats and a revolving door of foster kittens.
Executive Director & Board Member
Bonne Vevea
Residence – Redmond
Board Member Since 1997
bonne@meowcatrescue.or
I’m proud to have been a Co-Founder of MEOW Cat Rescue. It is my pleasure and my privilege to continue to be involved with MEOW on a daily basis, working with our excellent staff and devoted volunteers. I share my life with six MEOW cats and litter after litter of foster kittens. I have a particular fondness for animals with special needs.
Board Treasurer
Steve Heaps
Employer- Retired
Residence – Fall City
Board Member Since 2022
steveheaps@meowcatrescue.org
I began volunteering with MEOW in 2019 after attending the annual MEOW fundraising auctions for many years. I was impressed with MEOW from my interactions with the board members and volunteers, so when I had time to begin volunteering, I contacted MEOW. I am excited to be more involved now to help MEOW and our supporters in all of our rescue endeavors. My wife Sue and I have been active cat and dog rescuers since we met. We currently have three rescue dogs and two MEOW cats although it is likely we will bring more cats and dogs into our family soon.
MEOW Staff
Shelter Manager
Adolfo Dorta
Employee since 2021
adolfo@meowcatrescue.org
I am happy to have joined MEOW in 2021 as Shelter Manager. Previously, I worked for three years as the Development and Volunteer Coordinator for Safe Harbor Humane Society (of Kenosha, WI), as well as for Allendale Association in Illinois – a non-profit that provided mental health services and life skills training to at risk adolescents in Illinois.
I am lucky to share my life with my wife Carrie, who herself has a background in animal welfare, as well as our cat, Kathleen Hanna Banana, our dog Ripley, and our often ornery turtle, Mr T.
Volunteer Programs Manager
Faith Ballin
Employee since 2023
faith@meowcatrescue.org
Faith is a Los Angeles transplant who has been working in animal welfare for over six years, although her love of animals goes back much further than that. Faith worked in administration at a few law offices before quickly learning that she needed to pursue her passion – this led to her becoming a successful Dog Adoption Coordinator at Sally’s Rescue. This allowed her to ensure thousands of dogs would have their fur-ever homes. Faith’s background also includes working in dog daycare facilities for five years, three of those in top management positions perfecting behavioral training techniques and emphasizing the necessity for pups to get individualized attention and socialization.
But where do the cats fit in? Well, in 2021 Faith decided to leave LA for Washington. This is where she worked for a dog salon and daycare that also facilitated cat adoptions and had 2 shop cats of their own! Having a mother with allergies meant Faith didn’t have much experience with felines growing up but the love for animals reaches beyond species. So, of course, she fell in love with their independent and silly nature. She even has two tabby’s of her own now! Faith is excited to join the team and retune and refine her rescue skills for the Meowsome cats at MEOW Cat Rescue!
Medical Care Coordinator
Erin Simpson
Employee since 2022
erin@meowcatrescue.org
In 2010, I started my animal care career as a Veterinary Receptionist at a private clinic but realized quickly my heart belonged in shelter medicine. The next year I became the Veterinary Receptionist for Seattle Humane Society (SHS). I spent 8 years learning the field and how best to care for animals and how I can help the shelter, staff and volunteers. I knew I could do more and decided to attend Pima Medical Institute and became a Licensed Veterinary Technician in 2015.
Aside from helping in the veterinary department, I was also active in the shelter world by helping to coordinate and train volunteers, teaching animal handling classes and fostering kittens. For the last 2 years of working at SHS I was the coordinator for their WSU 4th year veterinary student program. Since then I worked 2 years at a cat-only clinic and even worked for Pima Medical Institute teaching new Veterinary Assistants for the very school I graduated from. However, my heart ached to work in shelter medicine again and the family at MEOW welcomed me with open arms.
I’m very excited to be working for a rescue with such a dedicated and caring team of staff and volunteers. I currently share my life with my wonderful husband Sam, our new puppy Raela and my very first foster (failure) cat Mitten.
We Did It! Thanks to You!
We are so proud to once again be top rated from Great Nonprofits.
Thank you to you our supporters, adopters, and volunteers.
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