Today we’d like to introduce you to Mallori Girard.
Hi Mallori, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I recently shared a Facebook post from when I finally received my bachelor’s degree. It took over eight years of full-time college classes before I finally received that illustrious piece of paper. I had put so much pressure on myself that I wasn’t even proud. I didn’t even have any desire to “walk the stage”. It was at that point that my wife encouraged me to push myself further, and told me that I was capable of so much more. It was that moment that my graduate school career began. I currently have a graduation date of December 2023 for my doctorate. With this timeline, I will achieve two post-baccalaureate degrees in just over half the time it took me to receive my first degree.
So what is the difference? Support. Passion. Vision.
When I first moved to Bryan, I was extremely unhappy with the community. It was a small town compared to my hometown of Dallas. It was full of people who looked the same, thought the same, and believed the same things.. or so I thought. By allowing myself to be immersed in the community, I found so much beauty in Bryan. Along with my wife, we founded Six Kittens Rescue to provide a much needed service to not only the cats, but also the people. We pride ourselves in educating our community about proper pet ownership and disease prevention. We have big plans to continue to grow our little rescue (originally started in our home) to be able to provide even more services to our community in the future.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh, absolutely not. Animal rescue is never a smooth road, but you always have cases that remind you of why you do it. Animal rescue is one of the “jobs” (hah, we don’t get paid, so is it really a job?) that you don’t really understand unless you are deep in it. I have repeatedly asked myself if I am cut out for this, if my mental health can hang on long enough for the next “good” case, if I will meet a person that day that will restore my faith in humanity? I always seem to pull through somehow.
Animal rescue is not cheap. When we first started, my wife and I exclusively funded medical care for all of our kittens. We were extremely lucky to have a relationship with our veterinarian and they let us run up a bill and gradually pay it off. They even retroactively provided a non-profit discount once we received our 501c3. If it weren’t for their support, there is no way we would have gotten our feet off the ground.
While we are a bit more financially stable, we still face struggles daily. We understand that not everyone has the same values as us, and that is fine. We also understand that we are going to make some decisions that people are not happy with, whether that is denying an adoption application, or being able to take in their cat. One thing we do know, however, is that every decision we make is 100% on a mission. Every time we are faced with a difficult decision, we ask ourselves how it compares to the mission we set forth on four years ago. If it does not align with that mission, we do not move forward.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We always joke that we are dog people who just happened to open a cat rescue. We took a deep look into our community to see what was most needed, and that was support for the ever-growing feral and community cat population in Bryan-College Station. There was already one cat rescue in town, but they specialized in adult cats and provide spay/neuter vouchers to the community, which is another amazing resource for our community. However, with my knowledge of veterinary medicine, I knew that for the teeny tinies, the bottle babies, the neonatal, going to the city shelter was almost a death sentence. City shelters are much needed, and we are lucky to have the quality of city shelters we do here in BCS, but they are extremely dangerous for kittens that have an almost nonexistent immune system. It was because of this that we discovered our niche: neonatal kitten care. We vowed to have sleepless nights and zero vacations all so that we could give the most vulnerable of felines the best chance at life. It is because of this promise that, to date, we have been able to help almost 700 kittens find their forever homes, and get over 250 feral/community cats fixed. All animals that come from our organization are fully vaccinated for FVRCP and rabies, microchipped, spayed/neutered, fed Purina Pro Plan and current on Feline Advantage Multi.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Please be kind to your veterinary staff and rescue workers. Working with animals is extremely difficult because they can’t tell us what is wrong. I can promise you that every individual that works with animals cares for them, and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to them. According to a recent study, people working in animal welfare (veterinary medicine, animal rescue, etc.) face the highest suicide rate of all American workers. Take it upon yourself to change that, and it just starts with being kind.
Pricing:
- $135: Kitten Adoptions
- $75: Mama Cat Adoptions
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sixkittensrescue.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sixkittensrescue/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sixkittensrescue/
