Cat Tales
Friends of Cats is always welcoming new personalities to our family. Usually these personalities come to us in the form of cats, but recently we added a new human – Janet Bianchini.
Sharing our passion for animal rescue, Bianchini, took over as Shelter Manager on April 11 of this year. Having grown up with a variety of pets, Bianchini understands and appreciates our mission here at Friends of Cats, and we are happy to have her expertise at the shelter.
“My passion for animal rescue definitely comes from my parents,” Bianchini said. “We always had cats as pets, and they were always strays that we found or our neighbors found and gave to us.”
It was this passion for the well being of others that led Bianchini to receive her masters in social work, and subsequently work in the field for 10 years. Though her work was mostly with developmentally delayed adults, Bianchini never lost her passion for animal rescue.
“When [my husband and I] moved to San Diego, our real estate agent put us in touch with Chihuahua Rescue of San Diego,” Bianchini said. “We started fostering one dog at a time, but now it is pretty common for us to have six dogs at a time in our house. It has been such a rewarding thing in my life to give these dogs that have been literally and figuratively thrown away a new chance at life.”
About six months ago, Bianchini realized that she wanted to dedicate more of her time to working with animals. “I was aware of Friends of Cats,” she said, “but I had never been out to the shelter. I was excited to get the opportunity to come on board as the shelter manager… It is such an honor to be the voice for these helpless animals and to hopefully make as big a difference in their lives as they are making in ours.”
Bianchini’s workday at Friends of Cats consists of coordinating daily shelter activities. Though it is common for new management to make big changes when they take over leadership, Bianchini doesn’t plan on making any major changes until she fully sees how everything works. Some things she does plan on adding, however, are ways to market the shelter.
“Getting our shelter out there will raise awareness for the need for help to continue to help all of the cats and kittens at the shelter,” she said.
In getting the word out there, Bianchini will be able to accumulate funds to make necessary repairs to the shelter. “The Box Car has suffered roof damage and water damage. I am working to apply for grants to complete other repairs around the shelter, too.”
Outside of Bianchini’s shelter cats, she has two cats of her own that she rescued as kittens, 13-year-old Sammy and 9-year-old Penny, as well as two Chihuahuas, Luigi and Daisy. She is also still involved with Chihuahua Rescue of San Diego. We are excited to move forward with her and make life for the cats at our shelter even better.