Marlene Smith has always loved cats. “I like them because they’re independent, cuddly, loving, playful, and watching their antics is better than watching TV. They make great companions.”

Born in Winnipeg in 1946, this recent retiree has enjoyed more than one “cat tale.” Growing up in Manitoba when pets weren’t so pampered, and vet services were mainly used on farm animals, no one thought about spaying and neutering the family pets. Most pet owners witnessed Fluffy’s birthing, a common “rite of passage” for many children and the kittens, for the most part, found homes among family and friends.

Today, people know better: An unspayed female cat, her mate and all of their offspring, producing two litters per year, with 2.8 surviving kittens per litter can add up to 11,606,077 cats in nine years. A staggering number Marlene is well aware of as, over the years, she has devoted her time and attention to caring for countless homeless and unwanted kittens over the years.

Kids growing up in the forties had the freedom to be kids. Marlene spent her childhood riding her bike and roller-skating on strap-on skates. In the winter, she and her friends had fun in the snow making snowmen, snow angels and staging wars from backyard forts until the sun set, and Jack Frost sent them scurrying home to hang wet mittens, gather around the radio and let their imaginations soar. As they grew older, curling replaced playing in the snow along with 10-pin bowling in heated alleys.

Marlene married in 1967 and moved west to Richmond where she worked for a trucking company for 33 years. After living in Richmond for 25 years, she moved to Surrey, “I discovered that my patio was a magnet for homeless and abandoned cats. I couldn’t let them starve, so I began feeding them and started looking for a no-kill shelter that would take and find these strays loving homes.”

In 1992, she found the Canadian Animal Rescue and Extended Shelter [C.A.R.E.S] and met Wilf Longfoot who started the society. She began volunteering at the shelter, which was located in an old barn in Langley. Every Saturday, she travelled from Surrey to clean, feed and socialize the many cats.

“When I started working for C.A.R.E.S in that dilapidated erstwhile barn, we had no hot water; we had to heat it in a kettle before we could begin cleaning. We eventually installed a hot water tank, along with all the other renovations that volunteers spent their time, money and energy on in making a nice home for the cats.”

The shelter relocated to its current home in Milner on November 30, 2003. In February 1998, C.A.R.E.S. began an alliance with PetSmart in Langley. Rescued cats brought into the shelter receive quality food, socialization and veterinary care, and many of those cats are then taken to the PetSmart adoption centre in the Langley store. From February 1998 to December 2010, over 5,000 cats were adopted from that location.

Since C.A.R.E.S is a no-kill shelter, animals that are not adopted are able to live the rest of their natural lives under the love and caring hands of the more than 50 dedicated volunteers. Marlene’s duties at the shelter have varied over the years. She graduated from housekeeper to kitty kisser, a position started by the shelter manager with a job description to love, brush, play with and socialize the cats to make their lives joyful and prepare them for adoption.

“I found this very rewarding as I witnessed the cats transforming from being very scared and timid to becoming friendly and playful,” she says. “With lots of love and patience their true personalities emerge.”

Marlene serves on the fundraising committee, which accounts for hours of dedication organizing such events as weekly meat draws in three different Langley pubs, soliciting silent auction items for Fraser Down’s night at the races, encouraging community support in the annual 5 km walk-a-thon, casino, bowling and garage sale events to name a few. And she still finds time to volunteer as chairperson for the Cat Evaluation Committee and as secretary on the board of directors and membership committee.

“Some of my life’s best experiences have been working with the many volunteers of like mind and passion for helping animals and being there when a long-term resident or cats that I have developed a special bond with finds a wonderful forever home.”

Unfortunately, there is a downside to working at the shelter. Many of the cats that come in sick or injured are beyond saving. Volunteers witness the suffering endured by homeless cats, lost pets and others born into a feral community. Often, it’s not only the cat who suffers, but humans who for reasons beyond their control must forfeit their beloved pets.

Downsizing seniors often move into “no pet” apartments or care facilities that won’t allow animals to accompany them, even though medical evidence has proven that pets provide many benefits such as lowering their owners’ blood pressure.

“There outta be a law against landowners who have no pet policies,” says Marlene. “It is terribly traumatic for any cat, particularly an older senior cat to go from a loving home to a shelter environment, where it will probably spend the rest of its life as senior cats are less likely to be adopted.”

She is also a dedicated advocate for stronger, stricter laws for all animal abuse and mistreatment. Marlene doesn’t “own” any cats as she believes people are “guardians” of their pets. However, she is currently a servant and guardian to two rescue cats, Smokey and Kiyah.

Cats may be viewed for adoption at www.carescatshelter.com and on Facebook, or by visiting PetSmart in Langley.

DECEMBER 2011 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND