02/29/2024
A BRIEF BACK-STORY…
Shady Brook Animal Rescue was first founded by Swiss expat Dora Nyffennegger, who began her rescue efforts shortly after relocating to New York City from Switzerland in the late 60s. Dora worked alongside Patricia P. Widmer, who founded Pet Clinicare (a low-cost spay/neuter clinic in Manhattan which was revolutionary in its time) and authored various cat and dog care books.
My mother, who is also a senior home attendant (and had already taken on animal rescue work of her own at the time), initially met Mrs. Nyffennegger as a client. What started out as a job, blossomed into a beautiful friendship. Over the years, as Dora’s health slowly declined, my mother began to take charge of Shady Brook Rescue operations and has operated under the non-profit ever since.
Our rescue endeavors range from providing urgent medical care, rehab, fostering and adoptions, to licensed TNR (to control the feral cat population), feral colony care (feeding, providing live-in shelters to brave the elements, regular medical check-ups and vaccines), to hospice care for elderly/terminally-ill cats who are deemed “un-adoptable”).
Since 2011, we have also opened our home to over 100 aging, injured, and terminally ill cats, who have proven to be less adoptable — mostly due to the fact that caring for such cats is a daunting round-the-clock endeavor, and the cost of constant medical care is often a bigger investment than people are willing to make.
As you can imagine, in a metropolitan area as big as New York City, our work is never done. And while we have been largely self-funded over the years, we are always desperately reliant on the help of communities and citizens like you, whose donations (whether through food or funding), helps keep us operating and able to tend to these less-fortunate beings in search of a loving home to call their own.
Shady Brook Animal Rescue has never had an online presence — mainly because my mother never had a spare moment between her day job and her rescue endeavors, nor did she possess the tech-savvy to create a social media account. But after 13+ years, we’ve come to realize that in today’s climate, it’s an absolute MUST to have a social media presence. It’s how we network, it’s how we can be put in touch with other like-minded animal people, and — most importantly — it’s how we introduce our organization and our mission to the WORLD.
So what will you find on our page? We plan on chronicling (through videos and pictures) the journeys of our current rescues, while also posting the stories of cats whose paths we were lucky to have crossed over the last 13 years.
That said — PLEASE GIVE US A FOLLOW! Because as we all know — these days, social media success lies in NUMBERS. We’re getting a late start with our IG/FB, but we have over a decade of stories to tell and a motley crew of characters to introduce you to!
Sincerely,
Sylvia & Patrick (& cats!🐱)
