Society & Culture
Katie was certified as a Missing Pet Recovery Specialist in 2016 through what is now Missing Animal Response Network. She has been working with owners of missing cats and dogs in Colorado and remotely in other areas since that time and recently moved to Oregon. She creates search plans for owners of missing dogs and cats, and helps on the ground with humane trapping when needed. When the Oregon wildfires exploded in early September of this year, she found a team that welcomed her help in rescuing animals in the burn zone. She traveled between her home in Bend to Springfield to help on the Holiday Farm Fire several times, and made the trip to southern Oregon to help on the Almeda Fire near Medford twice to train with Shannon Jay, a well know "fire cat" rescuer and to help on the ground. She has a cat detection dog, a beagle/dachshund mix named Franklin, who helped recover a cat in a big dark home the owners couldn't return to, helping rescuers get the cat safely and quickly, and later used him to help find some deceased cats in burn zones, giving the owners closure. Katie is also a volunteer Microchip Hunter with Lost Dogs of America and uses her skills to help reunite found animals with their owners whenever possible.