About Us

Who are we??

KAWS Animal Rescue was founded in 2010 and is an organization that is dedicated to finding forever homes for unwanted, stray, abused, and neglected animals in the Kindersley, SK area. All animals that come into our care are vaccinated, dewormed, and neutered/spayed, then placed in appropriate foster homes for as along as it takes for a permanent home to be found. All adoptive homes are pre-approved with us first and we will do a home visit before the adoption is finalized.

Our organization consists of all volunteers and relies solely on public donations to buy food and to provide medical care for the animals. 100% of all donations go to help the animals! We have no paid employees and no building, thus no utilities or maintenance costs.

2023 Board of Directors

President	Vice President
Shannon Klassen	Anna Veldhoen

Secretary	Treasurer
Tabatha Cherwenuk	Shannon Klassen

Directors

Kay Billet
Melinda Ells
Erin Horbay
Nancy Jasman
Lindsay MacIntosh
Kevin Martin
Stephanie McKee
Cathy McMillan
Heather Warrington

Meet Our Team!

Hey! I’m Shannon, current President & Treasurer of KAWS. I have been a member of KAWS since 2011. All my life I have always had a huge love for animals, especially horses and cats. I have never gone a day in my life without at least one animal in the house and that will never change! I live on my own acreage just outside of Kindersley with my 3 horses, 1 dog, 3 very spoiled barn cats, and my very special 19-year-old indoor cat.

I have fostered many, many cats and kittens over the years. I’ve lost count now, but well over 100 have come through my home. I remember the first kittens that I ever fostered. Just weeks after joining KAWS, we got a call about a litter of 4 semi-wild black kittens that were about 3 months old. We were having problems finding someone to take them in, so I stepped up. It took a lot of time and patience, but they eventually warmed up to me and would snuggle with me on the bed every night. Eventually they were adopted to good homes. It was very hard saying goodbye but it felt so good to help those kittens that I was hooked! It’s a struggle for most rescues to find enough foster homes, especially ones for cats, so I have made it my mission to open my home to as many as I can. I’ve taken in the sick & injured, pregnant mommas, orphaned kittens, and quite a few feral/wild cats. It really is a good feeling to take in a homeless animal and watch it thrive in your care and eventually find it’s forever home.

One of my favorite quotes is “Saving one animal won’t change the world, but it will certainly change the world for that one animal”.

Hey! I am Tabatha, Secretary of KAWS. I am married and have two adult children and a great love for animals! I have been a member of KAWS since 2017. Getting involved with KAWS was an easy choice with my soft spot for kittens and cats! I take on a few bottle babies and a whole lot of kittens every year! I have three cats that are forever foster wins, but you can bet at anytime I have a few extra! I believe in our rescue, our mission and hope to be apart of curbing the over population of animals.

Hello! I’m Anna, Vice President and adoptions co-ordinator of KAWS. Since I could walk and talk, I have always shown interest in helping animals. My very first word was “Kitty”. At the age of 10 I got my very first rescue cat and I started a pet and dog walking club that raised money for animal rescues. I currently rescue, pet sit, board, walk and foster exotic animals. Some of the animals I have rescued and cared for are: a Great Horned owl, rats, Western Tiger salamander, pigeon, hermit crabs and too many cats to count. The animals I own and care for are a dog, snake, tarantula and two black kitties. I have a wonderful husband (who puts up with all my crazy animal stuff) and two amazing kids (who are just as crazy about animals as their mom is).

I am so grateful to be in a community with a rescue like KAWS and even more grateful to be apart of it. “You can’t change an animal's past, but you can re-write the future”

Hi! I’m Kay, and in my everyday life I keep myself pretty busy as a wife, mom of 4, nurse, crazy cat lady and now Media Relations (Meow Relations) for KAWS. I joined the team because our community needs this program! When I heard KAWS might not be able to continue due to lack of volunteers and foster homes I was sad, and I knew I needed to step up and take action. There are too many abandoned, injured and sick critters in our community, so I’m excited to be involved with a team of like-minded people - ready to make a positive difference!

I'm Nancy, a new member to KAWS. Growing up on a farm, I've always had a love and respect for all things in nature, especially for animals and their wellbeing. I can't imagine a life without them. I've always been a firm believer in helping when and where I can and being a voice for the voiceless.

It was a fitting opportunity to join the KAWS team. My goal is to provide help in any way that I can to every animal possible in this lifetime.

I believe in all that our rescue has to offer, its vision, and mission. I believe it's extremely important to raise awareness and spread knowledge on the benefits of spay and neuter to help control the overpopulation of homeless animals for the future.

"Rescue. It's not just a verb, it's a promise."

Hi I'm Melinda, a new member to KAWS but no stranger to fostering. I foster both cats & dogs and now learning the ropes with bottle babies.

I am a mom of 3 and I personally have 1 dog and 2 cats (all adopted). I also run a day home so you can be guaranteed that all fosters coming out of my home are very well socialized!

I knew I needed to become involved with KAWS as I believe in saving animals and their spay/neuter program and then of course finding those animals their "fur" ever homes!

Hi, I’m Cathy. I am fairly new to Kindersley and enjoy living here. When the call from KAWS went out I just had to respond and be a part of this amazing team! I’m a true animal lover and very passionate about the welfare of all kritters. I have a little dog named Sorrel, I rescued her 5 years ago and a cat Cleo I rescued 8 years ago. Animals bring so much joy and comfort to me. Volunteering with KAWS has me saying No-No-No a lot! lol I fall in love with the animals we take in, they all grab a huge chunk of my heart. My biggest hope and the hope of our team is that these animals find love and their forever homes.

Hey all! I’m Lindsay, a new member of KAWS. I have always had a passion and love for animals my whole life. Growing up we always had animals around; cats, dogs, pet rats, guinea pigs. We rescued and fostered many dogs throughout my life as well. I even helped rehabilitate 5 baby squirrels and a skunk!

These days my life revolves around my 2 border collies. They are my world. I have canine first aid training to make sure I’m always prepared for any situation.

I hope I can make a difference helping our community and the animals in need. Life can be hard whether we are humans or 4 legged furry friends and I strive to do what I can to help everyone when I can.

Hi!! I'm Erin, a new member to KAWS. I grew up on an acreage just outside of Kindersley. I have been living in Saskatoon for the last 18yrs. My husband and I just bought a house here in town and moved on July 15th. We have 2 fur babies: Sadie (our dog who is 15yrs old) and Meeko (our cat who is 6yrs old). They are my world!

I've always had a passion and love for ALL animals!! I've fostered once for KAWS quite a few years ago (a mom cat and two kittens). I would love to open my home for some more cats that are in need of fostering! I wanted to join the KAWS team to help make a difference in an animal's life and help find them their forever homes!

Interested in Volunteering?

Would you like to help out a good cause but don't have any extra cash or items to donate? Then why not donate your time?! All of our animals are in foster homes, so we don't have a need for people to help with the animals directly BUT we hold several fundraisers throughout the year and usually are in need of extra hands! If you're interested, please send us an email at kaws@live.ca and we'll let you know how you can help!