O’Malley Alley Cat Rescue Makes a Purr-fect Pairing with Girl Scout Troop 3049
The Girl Scouts in Troop 3049 set a goal of helping animals and O’Malley Alley Cat Rescue turned out to be a purr-fect pairing.
For their Silver Award project, two eighth-grade Scouts, Olivia “Livi” Ortiz and Katie Giordano, are helping to build a habitat for a group of feral cats. These cats are currently unadoptable, but still in need of refuge.
The troops’ hiss-tory with the rescue felines--friendly and otherwise--spans over two years. It started sustainably with the Girl Scouts from Tyler and Bullard, Texas, making cat scratchers with recycled Girl Scout Cookie boxes. Since then, troop members have become quite fur-miliar with the rescue. Many in the troop of sixth to eighth graders have been together since kindergarten.
In recent years, Troop 3049’s Cadette Girl Scouts helped O’Malley Alley Cat Rescue organize a garage sale, complete deep cleaning, sell snow cones or hot cocoa, and T-shirts at monthly open houses. One Scout even fosters cats from the rescue at her home.
Putting a twist on the usual cat tale, troop members will also spend part of their summer reading books up close with the cats to help them socialize and get comfortable with new friends--and hopefully a future adoptive family. They started kitty story time last summer. Troop Leader Stephanie Allen said it’s not only beneficial for the cats, but also encourages Scouts to keep reading over the summer.
O’Malley Alley is also assisting with a feral cat colony, a fenced-off area where a caretaker sets out food and the rescue helps with neutering. The two eighth-grade Scouts working on their Silver Award are helping clear the colony grounds and set up shelters. Donated coolers and supplies--purchased in part with troop funds--will provide warmth in the winter and cooler shade, literally, in the summer. Once the Silver Award project is complete the feral cats will be safe, even if they are still too scared to snuggle up to the Scouts and others.
Stephanie Allen has been a leader for six years and the founder of Troop 3049 for her daughter Amelia. Stephanie admits the most challenging part of the partnership with O’Malley Alley is resisting the urge to adopt all the rescue cats. “The two we have at home are enough,” she said, but adds endearingly of her troop of consistent cat caretakers, “They’re my girls!”
April 02, 2025
