Amy was born with a wellspring of compassion for animals and innate gift for connecting with them. The first animal she ever rescued was a dog when she was a mere 8 years old. Ever since she has been helping animals in need both personally and with various rescue organizations. In the last 15 years, she has worked with several different animal rescue organizations whose list includes; American Humane, Animal Rescue Corps, Brother Wolf (out of Asheville, NC), Humane Society of the United States, Kinship Circle, and Williamson County Animal Center.
For years while running multiple locations of her retail store Harmony Home, Amy fostered and adopted out cats from Williamson County Animal Center. In a 5 year period, she adopted out over 300 cats. Talk about making a difference and easing the continual overcapacity issue the shelter often faces! Following the closure of the retail storefronts, Amy continued to foster cats from WCAC and used several rooms in her home for fostering kittens and fearful cats.
When I first met Amy in 2015 while volunteering together at Williamson County Animal Center she was fostering kittens who needed bottle feeding (“bottle babies”) as well as helping socialize some cats who were fearful and needed extra tender loving care. Time and again Amy was able to connect with and calm the most frightened cat or dog that nobody else was able to reach. In addition, she has saved the lives of some of the most fragile kittens. And for those kittens who don’t survive, Amy mourns each and every loss. You would think a certain desensitization to loss would set in after awhile, but Amy forms such a deep bond with the animals who come into her loving care, it simply isn’t in her makeup to be hardened. Amy estimated she has had over 24 litters over the last 5-6 years, some for WCAC and some for other organizations. In 2016 alone, she bottle fed 7 litters starting in February and ending just one month ago with her last one. On average each litter comprises 3 kittens, but one time she had 6, which was a handful!
Beyond all her rescue work Amy still finds time to juggle her thriving business and family life. Amy’s family is comprised of her husband Chris, son Evan, and daughter rose. While the home is a temporary refuge for the many animals who have been fostered in the past, it has become a permanent refuge to the family’s 7 rescue cats, 4 rescue dogs and Rip (Chris’ patrol-certified police dog).
Of the 7 cats Bella, Bink, Bunny, Chester, Fuji, and Lily Belle were adopted from WCAC. They were all pretty much “foster failures” turned family members! While all fosters touch her heart, their are some her burrow a little deeper and make returning them to the shelter or a rescue impossible. Bella who was found outdoors and brought into WCAC was one big, dirty white mat of mangled fur. Scared and untouchable, she tore up several staff members and the vet when trying to hold her or examine her. Amy ended up taking her to my shop (Harmony Home) to live and now she lives at home with Amy. Bella is a relaxed, happy cat who loves affection. Bink, is another fearful cat (and “foster failure”) who proved to be unadoptable at WCAC, but not unlovable or incapable of loving back. It’s taken a long time to gain his trust and build his confidence, but slowly but surely progress is being made. Recently he crawled onto Amy’s lap last for the first time. It was a celebratory event! Bunny and Fuji were initially fostered as kittens and had a rough time start with being sick in the beginning. Chester was actually part of a 2 week old litter Amy rescued – found in an attic of a house being built in Franklin. Since the mother was never found the kittens needed to be bottle fed. All of Chester’s siblings were adopted out through WCAC. Chester who was an ugly duckling, the runt, and sickly didn’t have anyone expressing interest to adopt him. Amy loved his scrappy personality and couldn’t part with him. Chester is now a healthy and beautiful cat! Lily Belle’s was an unadoptable feral kitten from WCAC whom Amy took home to socialize. She is now thriving with her human family and loves her two boyfriends Bink and Chester. Last but certainly not least, Pancho was a rescue from the 2010 Nashville flood. Pancho was brought into one of Amy’s shop along with his mom and 4 siblings. Amy found homes for the mom and siblings and kept Pancho. Being a “foster failure” has definitely filled the home with so much happiness, joy, and love!
It was so much fun visiting Amy’s home and hearing all the adoption stories. I was immediately struck by how affectionate, good natured, and welcoming the cats and dogs were to me. The day I visited I had hoped to photograph all 7 cats, but knew it was an unrealistic goal. Bink, Bunny, and Lilly Belle are still a little timid and weren’t up for being photographed which was entirely ok. I defer to what is most comfortable for the cats and make every attempt to avoid situations they might perceive as stressful. Of the family’s 7 cats I was able to photograph Bella, Chester, Fuji, and Pancho. They are all such beautiful, radiant cats with endearing personalities!
When talking about her cats and dogs, Amy emphasizes how they are not treated as animals but as an integral part of the family. She believes “they are capable of deep feelings and emotions maybe not as deep as a human level, but there is something there to understand and study with each individual pet.” While recognizing more work is part of the package, the bond that exists makes it all worthwhile and believe those who don’t have animals are missing out in life. She goes on to talk about guardianship being a two way street and adds “we are not only their guardians, but they are ours as well.” Because cats and dogs are both companion animals for the most part, Amy is a big advocate of people having more than one pet. While there are always some exceptions, most usually want and need companionship from other animals. “And for people won’t have another pet because they have mourned too hard for a lost pet, all I can say to offer solace is to not get held back with our human emotions, but to keep our hearts open to new pets, because those animals in the shelters need us.”
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LindaLou Stockinger - Such beautiful work. Thank you for doing this work, you really captured the relationship between Amy and her wonderful cats. Think of you often. LL
Bkitty - Thank you! Amy is such a source of inspiration and her cats are all so special!