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The Mobile Surgical Unit
affectionately known as "The Beast" |
Our
Story
Susanna Russo and Erica Rambus met
during their first year of veterinary
medical school at Colorado State
University in 1992. As each
continued her quest to improve the
well being of animals, they eventually
decided to join their efforts on the
issue of feral cat overpopulation.
In 2003 with a donated RV renovated to
serve as a MobileAnimal Surgical
Hospital, Divine Feline came into
being.
On a long-awaited day in April 2003,
we drove to the feral colony and with
the help of Rocky Mountain Alley Cat
Alliance, trapped, vaccinated, and
spayed/neutered 10 feral cats.
The cats were transported from their
colony to a donated location in Denver
where they were fed and cared for
overnight before being released back
to their colony.
Today Divine Feline is the only
organization in the Denver metro area
solely dedicated to spay/neuter of
feral cats at their colonies.
Trap, neuter, return (TNR) is
the most effective, humane
program for the reduction of feral cat
populations and spay/neuter prevents
the perpetuation of future generations
of feral cats (In the absence of the
TNR humane method, many cats
continue to be trapped and
killed).
With the generous support of our
volunteers and donors, we can spay and
neuter over 100 cats a month. |
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Our Board of Directors |
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Andrea
Furness
is the
Assistant Director of
Capitol
Hill United
Neighborhoods
(CHUN),
and the
Capitol
Hill People’s Fair
.
CHUN is one of Denver’s oldest
neighborhood organizations and
promotes neighborhood involvement to
address issues related to development,
zoning and licensing, public safety
and
historic
preservation
.
In its 39th year, the People’s Fair is
one of the largest ongoing Arts &
Crafts and Entertainment festivals in
the country and draws over 250,000
people each year. |
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Andrea
joined the CHUN team in November 2005,
and assists in managing staff and the
organization, as well as producing and
promoting the People’s Fair, and
overseeing fundraising and community
events for CHUN and the
Tears-McFarlane House. She also
manages all of the public relations
and marketing for the People’s Fair
and CHUN.
Before
joining Chun, Andrea worked eight
years in sports public relations,
first for the
Colorado
Rapids Soccer Team
, and
then for the
Colorado
Avalanche Hockey Club
.
During this time, she assisted in
producing several major fundraisers
and community events.
A Denver
native, Andrea earned
two
Bachelor's
degrees
from
the
University
of Colorado at Boulder
, one in
Journalism/News Editorial with an
emphasis in
Public
Relations
, and one
in Communications with a Minor
in
Political
Science
.
Andrea is
very excited to join the Board of
Directors of Divine Feline. She
serves as Committee Chair for the
Marketing/PR/Media committee as well
as the Fundraising/Development
committee. Her family includes a
cat named Sydney and a dog named
Bella who loves attending Divine
Feline meetings. |
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Paula LaPrise has worked in the
commercial banking industry for over
20 years in various lending and credit
underwriting positions.
She joined Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in
1997 and is currently a Vice President
and analyst with the Wells Fargo
Private Bank in
Denver
CO
.
Before entering the banking
profession,
Paula served as a Staff Assistant for
Senator Byron Dorgan in
Washington
,
D.C
Paula's love for cats began as a child
growing up on a farm in
North Dakota where there were many
cats, both tame and feral. |
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Today,
she and her husband, Kevin, are
guardians for Sam
and
Sheba,
two beautiful feral cats. In
addition to being a Divine Feline
Board Member, she is a member of
The Cherry Creek Chorale and a
volunteer for the “Meals on
Wheels” program sponsored by
Volunteers of
America.
Paula
holds a B.S. in University
Studies/Business
from
North
Dakota State
University
.
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Mark
Reinhardt
has
been writing and lecturing on
vegetarianism and animal rights
issues for more than 20 years. As
a businessman and attorney he has
served in senior management for a
number of high-tech companies,
maintained a successful corporate
law practice, and served on the
boards of various nonprofit and
for-profit corporations.
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He is currently the chairman of the
board of Rocky Mountain Animal
Defense, an organization founded in
1994 to help eliminate the
human-imposed suffering of animals in
the
Rocky Mountain
region
.
Mark's popular column,
On or
Off the Mark
, has
been published by the Vegetarian
Society for more than two decades, and
has been reprinted online and in
numerous U.S. and international
publications. His book,
The
Perfectly Contented Meat-Eater's Guide
to Vegetarianism
, was
published by Continuum in 1998.
Mark holds degrees in
engineering and law from Duke,
Harvard, and the
University of Chicago
. |
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Dr. Susanna Russo graduated
from Colorado State University
College of Veterinary Medicine and
Biological Sciences in 1996.
During the ensuing years,
she moved back to Denver and
traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula
in Mexico with her friend and
classmate, Dr. Erica Rambus, where
they and other veterinarians in
the Yucatan Animal Rescue
Foundation performed free
spay/neuter on local dogs and
cats.
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Dr. Russo’s love of cats, both
small and large led her to Kenya
and Tanzania where she realized
her dream of watching wild cats in
their natural environment. After
returning from Africa, Dr. Russo
traveled with a group of American
veterinarians to China and met
with local veterinarians to
exchange ideas on current
practices of disease prevention.
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In 2000 she began focusing on the
needs of feral cats with the
enthusiastic support of Dr.
Rambus. The end result of three
years of brainstorming and
collaboration was the development
of Divine Feline. Dr. Russo
pursued another dream of moving to
San Francisco in 2003. Once
there she became involved with two
Bay area feral cat spay neuter
programs in addition to continuing
her work with Divine
Feline serving as President
of the Board of Directors.
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Dwight Smith has served
on numerous committees for different
organizations over the years and
currently
serves, on the Board of
Directors for the Cats’ Meow
Foundation. He
recently finished up a
term as a member of the Board of
Directors for the San Francisco
Choral Society where he chaired the
Governance Committee.
He enjoys reading, writing, skiing,
tennis and playing and singing many
styles of music. These
activities keep him busy in
addition to keeping up with the cats
"who always seem to be one step ahead"
of him. |
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Dr.
Erica Rambus
is a
1996 graduate of Colorado State
University College of Veterinary
Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences.
She
practiced for 7 years at Harrison
Memorial Animal Hospital, a
nonprofit hospital for indigent
clients and their pets, in Denver,
Colorado. In 2003 Dr. Rambus
left Harrison to collaborate with
her friend and classmate, Dr.
Susanna Russo, in helping
Colorado's feral cats by creating
Divine Feline.
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Dr.
Rambus
also
runs a house call practice, Vagabond
Vet, which now consists mainly of
in-home euthanasia for her clients'
beloved, dying pets. She also
continues to provide spay and neuter
services on a relief basis for
Harrison and The Denver Dumb Friend's
League. Erica's hobbies include
running 1/2 marathons with her sister,
vegan cooking, reading,
organic gardening, and
cross-country skiing.
She shares her home, and heart, with a
number of 4-legged animals, one of
whom is a paraplegic orange tabby
named Iggy |
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Home |
Divine Feline
News |
Bequests |
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We value your support for this
project as the organization relies
heavily on donations to cover
operating costs.
To make a donation click on the button
below. |
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To schedule a mobile visit to your
area, please call:
303
648-1245
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For information on how you can get
involved! |
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