Partner Profile: Homeless to Home Animal Rescue and Cat Sanctuary
Jeanine Tarintino grew up with a mother who rescued any animal in need. Farm animals, pocket pets, exotics, and companion animals. She is the family’s 5th generation to own the property, which includes about 5 acres of refuge woods, for the wild animals to live and/or hide from predators or hunters, and 7 acres of sanctuary. Homeless To Home was born in 1992, in part due Mrs. Tarintino learning of so many cats being turned away at shelters, and became a non-profit agency in 2015.
They are a 5-fold organization: 1. Rescue, 2. Shelter, 3. Adoption Center, 4. Sanctuary, and 5. Pet Food Pantry.
Their mission to prevent suffering of animals, no matter the issue or the animal, although only kittens and cats are kept on site. They receive calls nonstop for help with a hurt eagle, a litter of kittens whose mother was killed, TNR requests, hoarding issues, and from all over the country. People have brought animals from West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and all parts of Ohio. They’ve developed a great network with other animal rescue agencies to either take overflow from their sanctuary or place/care for an animal in which they do not have resources to handle.
They have also developed a healthy fostering network to help them with the increase in cats needing help. As with many other shelters during the pandemic, adoptions pretty much emptied-out the facilities, and now people are returning the animals for various reasons.
The tour began with the large outdoor crate-washing area, where hundreds of crates are washed and sanitized and stored. They also loan the crates out for TNR, helping a neighbor or other reasons.
The indoor receiving facility houses the incoming kittens and cats for quarantine or getting used to the surroundings. Sleeping kittens hang in adorable hammocks, made by a volunteer, there are blankets on top of the cages and a plethora of cat beds lined the spacious room. Dozens of cats wander around this area if they show signs of acclimated behavior and they get along with the other cats.
Next, the outdoor area features four square, adjacent zones of fenced paradise for these little guys. Complete with another volunteer gift, a Kitty’s Disney sign. Three of the zones contain all sorts of climbing, hiding, running and playing opportunities. The fourth block was for feral cat assessment and rehabilitation. All the zones are naturalized with trees, grasses and other flora. They currently house approximately 200 cats!
The property also houses The Woods, a beautiful open-air facility for weddings and other get-togethers, complete with tables, pergola, a peaceful waterfall and a lot of room to run. The funds from those operations go straight to funding the HTH operations.
The next step in their endeavors is raising money to build a 24/7 clinic with low-cost S/N services and around the clock emergency care.