Once a month, a pet adoption event at PetSmart in Mentor allows people the opportunity to add to their families.
In return, those doing the adopting also become members of another family themselves — The Winkies.
Winky Cats is a nonprofit organization improving the lives of cats in Ashtabula County, founded in 2019 under the name Community Cats Coalition and operated primarily as a trap-neuter-return effort, proven to be the most effective and humane way to control the feral/stray cat population.
The partnership with PetSmart in Mentor, located at 9122 Mentor Ave., has only enhanced the group’s effort to help these animals find a home.
Winky Cats President Kim Carpenter, Treasurer Nicole Droese and Secretary Margie Netzel are the leadership team and were all on hand greeting potential adoption individuals and families and answering questions at a recent event at PetSmart.
Netzel said 30 cats were adopted between Feb. 23 and Feb. 25, and anyone who takes one of the available animals home becomes a member of the Winky Cats “family.”
“We love our Winkies,” Netzel said. “And I have to say the staff and management at PetSmart are so generous and the absolute best and to be honest, we couldn’t do what we do without them.”
According to a Winky Cats newsletter, 370 cats were adopted at PetSmart events in 2023 and the group spent $57,000 in spay, neuter and vet costs.
The group also facilitates the foster and adoption of friendly cats and kittens trapped by volunteers and cats in large volume or hoarding situations. All adoptable cats and kittens are listed with photos and descriptions on the Winky Cats Facebook page and are available for adoption at PetSmart in Mentor.
The organization has a cat care center in Geneva. However, Netzel stressed it is not an animal shelter, kennel, veterinary office or adoption center. The Winky Cats Cat Care Center provides short-term housing for cats in the adoption program.
Emily Netzel, daughter of the secretary, is the driving force in many ways behind the organization.
Emily stated on the group’s website she probably could have counted on one hand how many times she left her house when COVID-19 was new and everyone had to quarantine.
Emily’s mom said her daughter has Asperger’s and helping and caring for the animals made a huge difference in her well-being.
“Those months were a downward spiral. My light at the end of the tunnel was fostering,” Emily stated. “In 2020, we had saved a litter of kittens in our barn and adopted one of them, then saving another litter months later (and adopting another one). The care and love kept me grounded and happy and people called me The Cat Whisperer because I could make the meanest cats friendly.
“Over the last year, we took it far more seriously, and eventually partnered with Community Cats Coalition of Ashtabula County and started Winky Cat Adoption and Foster over the summer,” she added. “We progressed more and more and by the end of the year we made over 100 adoptions at PetSmart, which we had only been working with since September. I can’t even describe the pride it made me feel.”
Emily stated the group grew so much that they needed a space to keep doing what they were doing and developed the cat care center in Geneva.
Winky Cats quickly outgrew that space and now they have a 1,700-square-foot cat care center with areas for animal health and intake, trap-neuter-release or adopt, quarantine for sick cats and kittens, cageless general population area for animals, laundry and cleaning areas for traps.
Jim Schroth of Mentor was among those looking at some of the cats available for adoption, one in particular he took a liking to, but was still undecided if he was going to become an official member of The Winkies.
“I am definitely considering it,” Schroth said.
Winky Cats is financially supported by private donations, business sponsorships, adoption fees and grants.
