Wes Borland and Carre Kwong Callaway are two musicians in a bad ass band called Queen Kwong that relocated to Detroit from L.A. just over a year ago. Since they moved here they have fostered hundreds of cats until they could be adopted into forever families. Wes and Carre are the creators of Motor Kitty Rescue, an organization that is trying to tackle the stray cat epidemic one feline at a time. They have already opened their doors to hundreds of Detroit's abandoned felines and changed their lives forever.
We reached out to Carre to find out more about Motor Kitty Rescue and what it's like to share your house with 15+ felines. She shared more about her organization, their goals, and ways that we can all help tackle the issue of feline homelessness. If your an animal lover you will be incredibly inspired by what they are trying to do! Take a second to learn more and then head over to their website to find out how to donate and get more involved with this awesome cause.
HID- What inspired you to start fostering/adopting out cats?
Carre- "We couldn't ignore all of the homeless cats in our community that were coming to us to be fed and sleeping under our cars in the rain. We also couldn't ignore the cats in the street that were getting hit by cars or the kittens that we found frozen to death. Most of the cats we've met are extremely friendly and probably once had owners who ended up abandoning them or losing them. It makes us nervous when we meet friendly homeless cats because those are the ones that are easy for people to grab to be used for bait in dog fights (this is unfortunately common). These are perfectly adoptable, social cats that deserve to be companions and pets for people. So, we decided to take them in, fix them up and find them homes."
HID- When did you adopt your first cat/kitten?
Carre- "I grew up with rescue cats, but I independently adopted two cats (Bonzai and FUBAR) when I was 16 and they went everywhere with me. They lived in my car with me and moved across the country with me, they're the best. Now they are 13 and still going strong."
HID- How many cats are you currently fostering?
Carre- "We have 16 needing homes."
HID- How do you find these fine little felines?
Carre- "A few are kittens of feral moms that were living in a shed in our neighborhood, others are friendly cats we found living on the street and in abandoned houses by Herman Keefer, and the rest are cats people tipped off us on that were in their yards needing medical attention, etc."
HID- How do you find people to adopt the cats?
Carre- "It's all been word of mouth, networking with other rescues and social media. We adopted out dozens over the last few months via friends and friends of friends, but then we ran out of people in our circle of friends who wanted cats. Luckily, we recently were introduced to a few other people working at better known rescues who have helped us find adopters by re-posting our posts on their social media pages. Now, we have a website, Instagram and Facebook to help connect potential adopters with our available cats."
HID- What kind of criteria do you have for people that adopt?
Carre- "We have specific, non-negotiable terms in our adoption contract like no declawing, no letting outside, and people have to agree to bring the cat back to us if things don't work out, etc. But, the most important step in the adoption procedure is to meet people and spend some time with them around the cats they're interested in adopting. We like to feel them out and see how they interact with the cats. You can tell a lot about a person by how they interact with animals."
HID- How do you keep up with all the litter boxes?
Carre- "Wes does that. And it's a full time job, poor thing."
HID-Did you foster kittens before you came to Detroit?
Carre- "Yes, we have worked closely with rescues in LA for years before we moved here."
HID- How can other people help?
Carre- "Well, of course donations are greatly appreciated and needed because food, litter, traps, and other supplies are costly when you're caring for 15+ cats. However, the biggest help is when people can volunteer their time. Wes and I are both touring musicians and are gone for at least half the year and when we are home we are usually working or records or Wes has a collection of oil paintings he's trying to fix and I'm in school full time...so, we are super busy and overwhelmed! When people can volunteer to help us with the everyday stuff like feeding, cleaning, and socializing with the cats, it makes a big difference. We are also always in need of people to foster cats waiting to be adopted, and transport cats to and from vet appointments and adoption events."
HID-What are your future plans and goals for Motor Kitty Rescue?
Carre- "In the next year, we plan to renovate a house to serve as the MKR headquarters so we don't have to use our private home (we have 7 feral kittens in our dining room right now!), and in the meantime, we are going to continue focusing on TNR and educating people on the benefits of spaying/neutering, rescuing cats and finding them homes, and assisting low income cat owners."
HID- Does Motor Kitty Rescue have any upcoming events?
Carre- "We have our first adoption event coming up at The Jam Handy Oct 20-24th during the AcroCat shows. Tickets are on sale now and a portion of the ticket sales goes to a rescue we work with called Animal House of Southeast Michigan!"
Carre- "We couldn't ignore all of the homeless cats in our community that were coming to us to be fed and sleeping under our cars in the rain. We also couldn't ignore the cats in the street that were getting hit by cars or the kittens that we found frozen to death. Most of the cats we've met are extremely friendly and probably once had owners who ended up abandoning them or losing them. It makes us nervous when we meet friendly homeless cats because those are the ones that are easy for people to grab to be used for bait in dog fights (this is unfortunately common). These are perfectly adoptable, social cats that deserve to be companions and pets for people. So, we decided to take them in, fix them up and find them homes."
HID- When did you adopt your first cat/kitten?
Carre- "I grew up with rescue cats, but I independently adopted two cats (Bonzai and FUBAR) when I was 16 and they went everywhere with me. They lived in my car with me and moved across the country with me, they're the best. Now they are 13 and still going strong."
HID- How many cats are you currently fostering?
Carre- "We have 16 needing homes."
HID- How do you find these fine little felines?
Carre- "A few are kittens of feral moms that were living in a shed in our neighborhood, others are friendly cats we found living on the street and in abandoned houses by Herman Keefer, and the rest are cats people tipped off us on that were in their yards needing medical attention, etc."
HID- How do you find people to adopt the cats?
Carre- "It's all been word of mouth, networking with other rescues and social media. We adopted out dozens over the last few months via friends and friends of friends, but then we ran out of people in our circle of friends who wanted cats. Luckily, we recently were introduced to a few other people working at better known rescues who have helped us find adopters by re-posting our posts on their social media pages. Now, we have a website, Instagram and Facebook to help connect potential adopters with our available cats."
HID- What kind of criteria do you have for people that adopt?
Carre- "We have specific, non-negotiable terms in our adoption contract like no declawing, no letting outside, and people have to agree to bring the cat back to us if things don't work out, etc. But, the most important step in the adoption procedure is to meet people and spend some time with them around the cats they're interested in adopting. We like to feel them out and see how they interact with the cats. You can tell a lot about a person by how they interact with animals."
HID- How do you keep up with all the litter boxes?
Carre- "Wes does that. And it's a full time job, poor thing."
HID-Did you foster kittens before you came to Detroit?
Carre- "Yes, we have worked closely with rescues in LA for years before we moved here."
HID- How can other people help?
Carre- "Well, of course donations are greatly appreciated and needed because food, litter, traps, and other supplies are costly when you're caring for 15+ cats. However, the biggest help is when people can volunteer their time. Wes and I are both touring musicians and are gone for at least half the year and when we are home we are usually working or records or Wes has a collection of oil paintings he's trying to fix and I'm in school full time...so, we are super busy and overwhelmed! When people can volunteer to help us with the everyday stuff like feeding, cleaning, and socializing with the cats, it makes a big difference. We are also always in need of people to foster cats waiting to be adopted, and transport cats to and from vet appointments and adoption events."
HID-What are your future plans and goals for Motor Kitty Rescue?
Carre- "In the next year, we plan to renovate a house to serve as the MKR headquarters so we don't have to use our private home (we have 7 feral kittens in our dining room right now!), and in the meantime, we are going to continue focusing on TNR and educating people on the benefits of spaying/neutering, rescuing cats and finding them homes, and assisting low income cat owners."
HID- Does Motor Kitty Rescue have any upcoming events?
Carre- "We have our first adoption event coming up at The Jam Handy Oct 20-24th during the AcroCat shows. Tickets are on sale now and a portion of the ticket sales goes to a rescue we work with called Animal House of Southeast Michigan!"
Tickets to attend a live AcroCat show in Detroit are $23 and you can purchase them here. You can follow Motor Kitty Rescue on Facebook and Instagram and you can visit their website here to learn more! Please reach out if you can donate your time, a few dollars, or if you want to become the fur-ever home for one of these fierce felines!
~S
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