ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- One woman in St. Petersburg has dedicated her time and efforts to helping animals find their forever homes.
- Victoria Rittenhouse coordinates the 250 volunteers at Friends of Strays
- Began the "Happy Cats Program" to help cats with behavioral issues
- Does all of the work for free as a volunteer
A typical day for Victoria Rittenhouse is filled with phone calls, and scheduling. But also with love and caring.
Rittenhouse is the Volunteer Coordinator at St. Petersburg's Friends of Strays. She works with the volunteer staff and with animals in hopes of preparing them for adoption.
"We get the volunteers for events, to help with the cats, cleaning, dog walking, everything," said Rittenhouse. While the work can be hard, it's the kind of job she would do for free; which in fact she does.
Finding forever homes for cats and dogs is what this place is all about. And some days are tougher than others.
Executive Director, Dara Eckart, says Victoria has made a huge difference here. Especially when she introduced the Happy Cats Program, where specially trained members work one on one with cats showing behavioral issues.
"We were able to save 39 cats lives last year because of the efforts that she put into it," said Eckart.
When a 9-year-old cat named Tiffany’s owner passed away she wound up here. Confused, afraid and anti-social.
Victoria worked with her for days.
"She just didn’t want to engage because she was mourning her owner, wondering what happened to her life and now as you can see she's ready to go with someone," Victoria said.
When we visited, we met a college student, Zoey, looking to adopt a new kitten or cat. We also met a little girl, Maddy, and her grandparents ready to take home a new puppy.
Victoria says she would love to have you stop by and maybe even support Friends of Strays.
The staff says to come on down, they'll be looking for you.