“In all the years I've been at the shelter, I've never seen a cat as scary as Batman.” This is what one volunteer at Oakland Animal Services told us when they learned that Batman had been adopted. It just goes to show how hard our friends at OAS worked to give this cat his best chance at a safe and happy life in a home.

In November, we shared some of our team’s most memorable adoption stories from this year. Here are more of our favorites! Each of these adoptions was made possible by a collective effort:  the shelter workers and volunteers on the front lines, taking in an enormous quantity of animals every day, our staff working with the shelter to identify the cats at the most risk and provide them with a safety net they can’t find anywhere else…

We love all our cats equally, and give each of them the best care possible to help them on their adoption journeys. That said, some of them leave a lasting impression on our hearts that we carry with us all year long. These cats each had some special connection to us and to our mission — reminding us why this work matters!