Growing up an only child on acreage, Samantha Ginsburg was no stranger to finding friendship in the cats and dogs on the property. The experience didn’t just teach her the importance of the human-animal bond but also pragmatic care, husbandry and responsibility.
“We lived on a couple acres, and people would always dump unfixed cats on our property,” says Samantha, who is now CFO (Chief Feline Officer) of the company CATSA. “Most of them became indoor/outdoor pets that we got fixed and built shelters for. I learned at a very young age the importance of spaying and neutering.”
Samantha got involved in Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) about 20 years ago when a feral mama and her four kittens showed up at her house. She has become more involved in cat rescue and advocacy with each passing year. “When you are aware of the magnitude of the cat overpopulation problem,” she says, “it becomes impossible to turn a blind eye.”
Samantha has made it her mission to help cats, caring for both domestic and feral varieties, with the feral ones often needing a little extra help. Over the years, she has tended to community cat colonies to get them neutered, treated medically and possibly adopted.
The proceeds from CATSA’s fun, space themed, luxury cat pod for indoor kitties helps community cats and TNR efforts. ©Courtesy CATSA.co
Gimme Shelter
In 2014, Samantha discovered that something additional was needed when she was asked to help feed a feral colony in a parking lot by her office.
She says, “There was no shelter, water or electricity, and winter was coming. These cats needed warm, protective shelter to survive our damp East Coast winters. I started building cat shelters out of donated old pickup cabs and plastic storage totes. As fast as I could get them made, other caregivers would need them. I just could not make them fast enough. This is when I realized that there was a real need for affordable, well-made cat shelters.”
To answer that need, Samantha sprang into action creating the CATSA outdoor shelter. “We put a ton of time and resources into designing our own low-cost shelter,” she says. “We are committed to fabricating these shelters in the USA and want to do so as cost effectively as possible to get as many of them produced as we can.”
There is also a limited-edition variety, space themed, luxury cat pod for indoor cats — the Lander Mark 1. Proceeds will help fundraising efforts for the initial run of CATSA’s patent pending outdoor shelter.
“The ear tipped CATSA logo honors the endless compassion and quiet dedication of community cat caretakers everywhere,” Samantha says. “The more you learn about their selfless, long-term commitments, the more amazing these community cat heroes are.”’
Learn more at CATSA.co