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5. Ollieʼs Place, a No-Kill Cat Shelter in NYCʼs East Village, Urgently Needs Adopters:

Reel 1: Overview: Ollie's Place is a cat shelter located at 430 East 9th Street in NYC. They have 15 wonderful cats in their care and one real jerk. Jk, they're all delightful (sorry for calling you out, Jerry). Due to a lack of funding, they are facing closure in January 2024. They have five weeks to find homes for all 16 of their adult and senior cats.😿


There are so few shelters, let alone no-kill nonprofit shelters like Ollie's Place. (UPDATE: Thanks for comments asking about how to help! It's not too late. Donate via Venmo or PayPal to @MightyMutts, email cats@mightymutts.org for questions about adopting a cat or donations, or read on for other ways to help. Link is in the CMNYC Instagram bio to the Ollie's Place Linktree for other ways to help too: linktr.ee/OlliesPlaceCats.)


Have you ever been to a cat cafe and thought, wow, this is awesome? Ollie's Place is like that, except without the risk of cat hair in your coffee. (No shade to cat cafes.)😹


You can visit with the cats and the amazing, hardworking volunteers weeknight evenings 6-8pm and weekends 12-5pm for FREE (donations encouraged). They are rigorous with their adoption screenings and you have the chance to apply to be one of the lucky few to own an Ollie's Place alum.❗And they need adopters now more than ever since these happy healthy cats are at risk of losing their home.


What’s worse, in addition to normal veterinary care costs to keep these cats healthy year-round, they need to lay out the costs for two of their cats (Paul and Big Boi) who have some serious health issues that will require the Animal Medical Center services soon.💰


🤔 How can you help? So glad you asked! 😽


Please donate (they're under the nonprofit Mighty Mutts), apply to adopt, and spread the word to anyone you know who wants a cat or who might want to support this beautiful feline space.


Link to their linktree is in the CMNYC instagram bio, or at linktr.ee/OlliesPlaceCats.


You can find out more about the adoptable cats with profiles being posted on the @mightymutts Instagram account. Please be patient, they are volunteer-run, and they appreciate anyone who is trying to help save this special place and their cats! #saveolliesplace #adoptdontshop #catshelter #catsofnyc

Ollieʼs Place needs to find homes for their 16 adult and senior cats before the end of January 2024, when they face closure due to a lack of funds. They also have some urgent and expensive veterinary costs for their kitties.

How you can help:

Reel 2: Cat Café Perks, Without the Risk of Cat Hair in Your Percolator: Ollieʼs Place is a special place with a free-roaming, no-frills, cat café-like shelter space, which can be visited weeknights 5-8pm and weekends 12-5pm, for free (donations encouraged), sans reservation. If we canʼt save the shelter space itself (but donʼt count them out yet!), we can at least make sure their cats get to experience loving forever homes. Check out the profiles of adoptable cats being posted to the Ollieʼs Place Instagram account at @mightymutts. Updates are shared as fast as the hardworking volunteers can post them.

Reel 3: The Importance of Adoption Match-Making: CMNYC co-founder Jenny Piersonʼs experience volunteering at Ollieʼs Place showed that rigorous adoption screenings resulted in lowering the chances that cats will endure the trauma of being returned to the shelter if things donʼt work out with an adoption. This was the case for her own cat and museum meow-scot Churro, who experienced some trauma from having been a stray cat who was spayed, rescued, adopted, and sadly returned to a different shelter where she became stressed—until Jenny scooped her up into a forever home where she could finally, slowly unwind. Cats are highly territorial, so even a well-meaning venue change can be a big deal. While even well-meaning folks sometimes are forced to give up a beloved cat against their will—whether due to financial hardship (especially given how unaffordable veterinary care can be—which the museum is committed to addressing in its future programming), serious human health issues such as from aging, or pet-intolerant landlords—it is a tricky balancing act to place a cat somewhere that is the right fit for each cat and its human alike. Until then, the cats at Ollieʼs Place have been kept healthy and happy. But now they donʼt have much time to matchmake for their special cats to prepare for the shelterʼs possible closure. Letʼs make their next homes their forever ones.

Support Ollieʼs Place!

Shop Artist Lily Kim Qianʼs Redbubble Shop

You can buy a print, t-shirt, tote bag, greeting card, and more with a “lovely design” featuring the cats of Ollieʼs Place by artist Lily Kim Qian on Redbubble. The artist captures the “spunky personality” of each cat and has generously chosen to donate the profits to Ollieʼs Place.

Find the purrfect way to display your love for Ollieʼs Place cats on a variety of products for sale with the artistʼs design here: redbubble.com/shop/ap/125972568.

Most of the cute cats depicted are still available for adoption, and a few are already Ollieʼs Place alums in or promised to forever homes—check @mightymutts on Instagram for the latest updates about the shelterʼs adoptable cats, or email cats@mightymutts.org to inquire about adopting.

Learn more about talented artist Lily Kim Qian on her website.