The beginning ...

In 1996 the Westchester Feline Club, Inc. decided to do something a little different. We had no clue how different it was going to get!

Our vice president and P/R chairperson, Sandy Adler, had seen, as many of us had, the story of Scarlet, the courageous mother cat who had rescued her five kittens from a burning building in New York City, and the fireman who helped aid the mother cat and kittens. We decided to create an award we called the Westchester Feline Club Cat of the Year to honor Scarlet for her bravery and to make a donation to the North Shore Animal League to help defray the cost of providing medical care for Scarlet and her kittens. We also wished to recognize the fireman for his assistance of Scarlet and her kittens. Of course, this was also an item for our publicity campaign for the show! We invited Scarlet, her kittens, fireman Dave, and representatives from North Shore Animal League to our show (Scarlet sent her regrets). At a special presentation at our show, we awarded certificates of appreciation and our donation.
Read Scarlet's story at the North Shore Animal League website.

1997

The second year, our club awarded the Cat of the Year award for something other than bravery. We honored Cleo, a cat born with a severe cleft palate (caused by her mother having been vaccinated during her, at the time unknown, pregnancy) and her caregivers, Bob and Maureen Stone. Cleo showed exceptional determination, an extraordinary will to live and great courage in the face of adversity, as did Bob and Maureen, who learned and invented whatever was necessary to raise and maintain a cat solely on tube feeding alone for a year and a half. Again, at a special presentation at our show, we gave certificates of appreciation and a HUGE ribbon to the Stones and Cleo, and in Cleo's name, we donated money to Tufts University, where the surgery to close her cleft palate was eventually done.
For more information about Cleo, including details about her tube feeding, see Cleo's website.

1998

Then we found the story of Philip Gonzalez and Ginny. Philip rescued many hurt, sick, and feral cats, nursed them back to health, neutered them and found loving homes for many and adopted others himself. The unusual thing is that he does this all with the assistance of a DOG. In fact, it was Ginny, the dog he adopted from a local shelter at a particularly desperate time in his life, that started the rescuing by bringing cats and kittens to Philip, or leading him to cats that were handicapped, neglected or abused. Their household has included a deaf cat, a cat with one eye, and a cat with no hind feet. Philip also feeds and gives daily attention to many feral cats in nearby neighborhoods, neutering and vaccinating where he can.
Ginny's uncanny sixth-sense searching ability and Philip's devotion to caring for the rescued creatures have been the subjects of numerous magazine articles and TV news and talk shows. To help finance their tremendous undertaking, Philip has established the Ginny Fund. He has also written two books about his very special Ginny, "The Dog Who Rescues Cats" and "The Blessing of the Animals", published by Harper Collins.
So for 1998, the Westchester Feline Club Cat of the Year was Ginny, the dog who rescues cats. Of course, our donation was to the Ginny Fund -- was there any doubt?
Unfortunately, we have to report that Ginny, "the dog who rescues cats", from Long Beach, NY, passed away at age 17 on August 25, 2005. Her memorial service was held at Regency Forest Pet Memorial Park on August 27th.
For more information about Ginny and Philip, see The Ginny Fan Club page.

1999 WFC Cat of the Year Award