This page is dedicated to the memory of Joe Martin
Joe was one of Safe Cats Coalition's volunteers. He took this rag-tag bunch and got us organized.
Joe was born in California, and grew up on the coast of Oregon. He inherited a congenital form of deafness from his mother. Even though his deafness could be corrected with hearing aids, he learned and excelled in American Sign Language so that he could communicate with other deaf people. Growing up, he discovered a love for Kenpo karate, and eventually had his own school. He loved the outdoors, and traveled extensively around the United States, visiting over 20 National Parks. Coming up on the turn of the century, Joe decided to enroll in Western Washington University. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology, with a side order of Japanese and Chinese. He was fascinated by languages that used characters instead of the Roman or Cyrillic alphabets. Joe eventually journeyed to the east coast, where he enrolled at Gallaudet University to work on a Master's Degree. After a year there, he transferred to the University of South Carolina, where he received a Master's Degree in Linguistics. His forte was writing signed languages. What a smart guy!
Joe has always loved animals (especially cats, who would frequently wander up into his yard and decide to make him their "hooman"). We met him through another of our volunteers, who knew him from USC. He jumped right into Safe Cats Coalition and started our webpage. Along the way, it was discovered that he was also skilled in carpentry and the like! He loved building things, and when the act of building was coupled with "cats", well, that was heaven for him. He built two catios for two of our volunteers, and helped a third one revamp her catio. He even "winterized" one of those catios by building removable panels (made with insulation and Plexiglas) that could be fastened to the wood during the colder months, and taken off for the warmer months. The cats LOVE it!
Joe even volunteered to help feed some of the local cat colonies when needed. One of the colonies was losing its home, and the feeders were panicking about what to do. It was decided that the cats would be moved to another colony about 6 miles away that only had two cats left in it. Joe, Lynda, and Beverly got together and brainstormed about how to do this. Since a cat "dumped off" somewhere will try to find its way back home, it is really hard to relocate them successfully. Care must be taken, and the cat has to be confined for at least 2 months (preferably longer), so that it gets acclimated to its new surroundings.
It was decided that pens would be built in the woods to house the cats, complete with doors for the "hoomans" to enter, shelves for the cats to climb on, and sturdy "walls" and ceilings to help keep the rain off. Materials were purchased, and they got to work. (Joe did most of the work, cos he was retired and muchly handy!) Joe also built cat shelters to put inside the pens, so that the cats would have somewhere to hide/ stay warm in the winter. The pens were built in "panels"- a wooden frame with hardware cloth attached, which was then spray-painted camouflage colors. Once all the panels were built, they were taken to the woods and assembled. Once the cats were trapped, they were transported to their new "home". They were kept in the pens for about 8 months (to see them through the winter), and were then released. They became friends with the two brother kitties who already lived there, and we are happy to report that none of them tried to go back to their old home. We are also happy to report that they are still using the pens and the shelters when it rains or gets cold- THANK YOU, JOE! We couldn't have done it without your help ♥
