Be Their Voice Animal Rescue Inc

Be Their Voice is an Atlanta-based certified non-profit run by experienced animal rescuers who are dedicated to saving the lives of homeless cats and kittens. Our story dates back to 2010 when our founder, Marlena, started volunteering with local rescue organizations while still in college. She quickly gained a reputation for her reliability and fearlessness in the face of so-called “tough cases” - pregnant or special needs cats that even established rescue operations wouldn’t or couldn’t handle. Soon, she struck out on her own, driving between shelters and animal control, personally taking in as many little lives as possible. In 2016, while finishing grad school and entering the workforce as a (human!) medical professional, Marlena started promoting her rescue activities online. It was at this time that she was given a “sick adult male” (rejected from a local shelter) who turned out to be a pregnant teen named Autumn! Thanks to Autumn, we now specialize in pregnant fosters. We work tirelessly to care for mom and babies until we can find everyone a forever home.

Since then, we’ve rescued hundreds of cats and built an online community of tens of thousands of cat owners and advocates across the globe. Our foster stories have been featured in mainstream media outlets, including the Hallmark Channel’s “kitten bowl.” In 2019, we “made it official,” and Be Their Voice Animal Rescue was born. We tell this story not to pat ourselves on the back, but to demonstrate what we have and will continue to do to give a voice to the voiceless. All the good we’ve done would not be possible without our community - those who adopt, advocate, and donate. 

But the best way to avoid the hard cases is to Spay and Neuter.  And one of our passions is TNR, Trap Neuter and Release.  This is a way to stop the tough cases from happening in the first place.  This also helps keep rescues in a position to take on those cases when they happen.  Many of these operations are in areas where people take care of community cats, feral or semi-feral cats that they feed and provide shelter.  And many of these are in communities that don't necessarily have the means to spay and neuter these animals on their own.  They are spending what they can to feed these cats, and they just don't have any additional resources.  This is where you come in.  Your donations will allow us to buy traps, supplies for the cats, and medical care including spay or neuter, so that the cycle will end and the people taking care of them can concentrate on feeding and caring for their community cats without worrying about more kittens and what to do with them.

All the kittens and cats we have rescue inspire us to stop this cycle.  But one recent one that highlights just why this is so important.  Piper was born to what was probably a feral mom, though we'll never know for sure.  BTV was contacted because she was paralyzed from the waist down.  BTV has experience with special needs kittens and we got her trapped.  However, Piper had been shot and had a bullet lodged in her spine.  Unfortunately, she had been in this condition for weeks, and she was in terrible shape.  The decision was made to end her suffering.  This is a hard decision and isn't taken lightly.  But sometimes, the most loving thing you can do is to let them go.  

This was in a rural community in Georgia, outside Atlanta.  Piper touches your heart, but so do the communities like hers.  The cat populations in many of these rural, low-income communities often get out of hand.  These are good people, who don't want to see cats starving, so they use their limited funds to feed them, and the cycle begins.  They just don't have the income to pay for spay and neuters.  And this is where we come in.  With your help, we can make sure that there are less cases like Piper's, fewer communities overrun with suffering cats and kittens, and that local shelters and rescues can take better care of the ones that remain.  You can help us make sure that Piper helped others not have the same fate she did.