Growing up in the rural outskirts of Rockford, Illinois, Serena, like most families in the country, was surrounded by animals and considered them to be as much a part of the family as their kin. With a surplus of land, it became difficult to monitor her beloved cats and breeding amongst them was hard to contain. Serena has told heart-felt stories of growing up witnessing the suffering of cats with illness, injuries and being hit by cars with no control over helping or giving aid. She has noted many spring seasons where she would find cats with their kittens dead due to the previous winter’s weather coupled with lack of food and water for mothers to feed them. Serena’s frustration of the cat’s suffering grew as hot and frantic as her passion for the feline’s reason to live a humane life. Later in life, her dissatisfaction for poor quality of living for cats continued to irk her as she worked in the field as a health inspector. While following up on assignments, Serena would visit households throughout the community, only to find an excess amount of feral felines running through the yards and streets. Serena observed cats that were deathly underfed searching for food as well as diseased and sometimes, with signs of torture. At that point, with all of the pain, all of the suffering, all of the inhumanity; it was time for action. Something had to be done.
Serena’s perseverance: Serena understood the dedication, the amount of love and financial challenges it took to take of her own five cats, let alone a colony of cats like some of the communities she had visited. As she would revisit these neighborhoods for her own follow up’s, she noticed that the amount of stray cats roaming was dangerously increasing. Serena started to have conversations with some of the caretakers to learn they were making sacrifices of their own well-being to pay for food to feed the cats. By doing that, the caretakers had no means to pay for vet visits or give adequate shelter to the colonies. So, armed with a pen, paper and a concept at her kitchen table, Feral Feline Project (FFP) was born. Serena immediately began building relationships with local veterinarians, networking with shelters, educating the public on trap-nueter-return (TNR) and assisting people who desperately needed to control the cat population in their neighborhoods. Like Clark Kent in a telephone booth changing to Superman, all of the angst and sadness Serena once had watching cats suffer, quickly transformed into passion and desire. She now had the special ability to help both humans and felines with a real ideas and real solutions.
Serena’s innovation: Being the daughter of a Rockford construction company owner not only gave Serena the genes to build a business from the ground up but the grit and fire to make the most out of a small budget and a handful of volunteers. Serena’s warm heart meshed perfectly with her “punch you in the mouth” approach to getting things done. She never took “no” for an answer and quickly earned the respect with her vets in order to negotiate the lowest costs of doing business so that she can aid more people. The philosophy for FFP was simple. Every feral and stray cat deserved the right to be saved and live a humane life without suffering. The concept for FFP was just has pure. Help the community to contain the cat population by offering an affordable solution to get their outdoor pets spayed/neutered, give them lifesaving medicine and return them to their natural colony. FFP will lift their spirits knowing they can continue to love their animals without unnecessary worries. The message from FFP was crystal clear. It’s ok for the community to take in these animals but we must learn to do it in a responsible manner. Serena carries the load of not only playing the hero to the caretakers who need help but to educate the masses while doing so. Serena is not only the President, but carries the role of webmaster and public relations officer maintaining a complete web site and annual newsletter. As the company’s popularity has grown, the community has rallied around Serena and her concept and helped to support her cause. She has ventured to surrounding villages to speak to them about TNR and the benefits it would provide for them. In just the first two years of existence, FFP has saved over 300 cats in NorthernCookCounty. Serena has been a hero to so many in the community and with her determination and focus, she will continue to grow and save the lives of many felines and humans in need.
Written & submitted by Greg Fried
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