Pet Advocate of the Year building ‘catio’ for elderly and disabled cats
As COVID-19 began to hit South Florida earlier this year, animal advocates were worried that its financial effects would force pet owners to surrender their animals. Then, with many people staying at home more, some rescue organizations saw an increase in pet adoptions at the beginning of the pandemic.
Throughout all of it, Jill Merjeski, founder of Jill’s Next Door Feline Alliance Program, said she tripled her online awareness efforts by taking professional photos of each cat to increase its attraction for adoption by followers on her social media accounts.
As of May, she had already fostered over 100 cats, helped rescue groups through Facebook and reunited lost cats with their original owners.
But helping felines in need is not new for Merjeski, owner of Jill’s Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC in Delray Beach. Four years ago, she began feeding cat colonies and fostering kittens with Kitty Karma of Delray Beach. After that, she completed several online cat care classes, specializations and certifications while fostering through Florida’s Forgotten Felines.
And last year, she created her own self-funded, advocacy and feline adoption program as an alliance with pet rescues in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Her advocacy efforts recently were recognized by Pet Sitters International, an educational association for professional pet sitters, naming her its 2020 Pet Adoption Advocate of the Year.
“There’s so much spent time, energy, passion, love and resources involved in volunteering, but it’s all worth it to make a difference to at least one animal in need,” Merjeski said in a statement.
As part of the award, Pet Sitters International makes a $500 donation to the animal shelter or pet-rescue group of the recipient’s choice. Merjeski selected Florida’s Forgotten Felines, a Lake Worth-based nonprofit organization founded by Susan Carmichael that cares for over 850 cats in 70 colonies in southern Palm Beach County.
“I’m honored to have this donation to Florida’s Forgotten Felines made on my behalf,” Merjeski said in a statement. “The organization’s founder is an inspiration to me — dedicating her life to feeding hundreds of registered cat colonies in need every day, providing medical care as needed and advocating for adoption.”
Merjeski also donated her services to build and design the nonprofit’s website, redesigned its logo and took professional photos to include on the website. She created and maintains its social media accounts and developed a hiring system listed on multiple platforms to find qualified cat feeders.
“Jill has been incredibly generous helping me with Florida’s Forgotten Felines. I spend seven hours a day cat feeding and do not have resources to make a website for my charity, let alone social media,” Carmichael said in a statement. “I’ve seen an improvement in donations since the website and social media has been launched, and I can’t thank Jill enough for dedicating her time out of the kindness of her heart to help me.”
What’s next in Merjeski’s efforts to save felines in need?
A cat patio, or a “catio,” as she calls it.
Along with volunteer Tony Sakal, she recently founded a residential cat farm in Loxahatchee.
“Feline Alliance Program fundraised over $2,000 to build a farm catio (cat patio) shelter for disabled, elderly or unadoptable cats found through [the program],” she said. “The catio serves to protect these innocent souls from predators whilst providing standard cat and medical care”
They broke ground on the project on May 11 and designed a dedication plaque to honor donors. Merjeski said she is also placing three of her current fosters on the farm as barn cats because they are too feral for adoption.
Visit jillsnextdoor.com/felineallianceprogram for information.
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©2020 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
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