We’re happy to announce that Sara Price has joined the SAFe Rescue team in the newly created role of Operations Director. Sara will supervise program staff (including the Adoptions, Foster, Intake, Volunteer, and Medical teams) and collaborate with Executive Director Emily Sprong to evaluate, optimize, and expand the Rescue’s programs.
Please join us in welcoming Sara—we are excited that she is now part of the SAFe community as we work to serve cats and the humans who love them!
Sara brings extensive experience in animal welfare to her new role, as well as compassion for humans and felines alike. Here is her message to you:
“If you ask people who have known me for a long time, many would tell you I’m a ‘dog-person.’ I grew up with a golden Labrador as a big sister! As soon as I began working with cats, however, I was fascinated.
I started volunteering at Seattle Humane in 2014 in cat care and quickly applied for a position there when one became available in 2015. I have always enjoyed learning so I dove into cat care and discovered that, really, we knew very little about cat behavior in comparison to dogs. Many cats are surrendered for common behavioral reasons for which there is advice available, such as scratching or poor litter box usage. But, how to reach people before it came to the decision of surrender?
After working in cat care, I moved into operations management. In that role, I was responsible for so many diverse aspects of shelter management, including doing research in preparation for the move into the new shelter that had been planned for some years. As construction of the new shelter completed, I joined the Facilities Team. There, I took on responsibility for the strengthening of health & safety at Seattle Humane to better protect our workers in an industry with higher-than-average claims. Throughout all this time, I retained my animal contact with dog playgroups and cat fostering and socialization—I couldn’t give that up!
Throughout this period, I also served on the Board of Oikocredit US, a global cooperative that provides capacity building and microfinance across the Global South in the fields of financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy. My time with Oiko has left me with a deep belief in the importance of collaboration and community support as critical supporting pillars for any work done.
The combination of my passion for humans and animals having universal access to basic life support—such as food, shelter and basic medical care—led to my involvement with The Goochy Project, starting in 2019. The Goochy Project is a pet boarding service created to remove barriers to human care: we keep the pets of humans in crisis safe while they deal with issues requiring temporary separation, such as emergency healthcare. This crisis-led pet fostering prevents humans from having to choose between essential care and their beloved pet.
My passion for animals is personal as well as professional, and I have two cats at home. Rorschach is a medium hair white cat, with black patches, hence the name. She loves to be loved and brushed, and is always next to her humans. On the other hand, Fry is a scaredy cat with an adventurer’s heart. He loves to go for a walk on his leash in the garden but jumps at every noise! (He’ll sit on the bench next to his leash and miaow for a walk.) Fry is a cuddler and loves to sleep with his humans.
I am delighted to be joining SAFe Rescue at a time of growth and expansion, to be a part of this dedicated team of feline life-saving experts, as our industry moves towards supporting members of our community and their pets in home as well as continuing to find families for those cats who haven’t yet found a loving home.”
Photo copyright Liz Walker, 2019.
