Petaluma Pet Pals plans adoption center, book store

During a phone conversation last week, Petaluma Peta Pals President Shannon Frieberg’s voice was periodically interrupted by tiny squeaks and meows.

As she bottle-fed her latest foster kittens before 8 a.m., Frieberg’s tone remained calm, and her voice soothingly low. You could call this a normal Monday morning for Frieberg, or as normal as a morning gets during the spring, when rescue organizations such as hers become inundated with abandoned kittens.

Founded in 1998, Petaluma Pet Pals rescues dogs, cats, puppies and kittens from high-kill shelters in the Bay Area and beyond. Volunteers then rehabilitate and foster the animals, and then find loving homes for them.

In an effort to save even more animals, the nonprofit is gearing up for one of the most important fundraisers in its 13-year history. Money raised will go toward opening Morti’s Used Book Nook and Cat Adoption Lounge, at the Petaluma Village Premium Outlets, 220 Petaluma Blvd. N.

The new venture will serve as an additional source of income for the nonprofit, which already operates Pet Pals Great Stuff Thrift Store at the mall, and sees Morti’s as a way to expand fundraising while providing a comfortable, easy-access location for local residents to meet and adopt cats and kittens.

It has not always been easy for Pet Pals to find places for adoptable pets to be introduced to potential new families. Currently, a few of the group’s cats can be seen at the local PetSmart. The staff break room at the Great Stuff Thrift Store, which opened in December 2017, houses several more cats.

But those aren’t enough, Frieberg has come to realize.

“It would be a more stable program if we could streamline the adoption process,” Frieberg said. “My dream was a cat café, but it cost too much. Tanya and I talked it over and she came up with the bookstore idea. We get a lot of books donated.”

Morti’s is partly a tribute to an indomitable kitten named Morticia. Late last June, the infant kitten, remembered as a tiny scrap of charcoal fur with eyes the color of blueberries, was dropped off at a local pet store in a plastic bag, have been found on a local ranch. For more than three months, Pet Pals’ cat adoption coordinator Tanya Reyes did everything she could to keep Morti alive. But eventually, the kitten’s small body couldn’t handle the stresses and medical setbacks thrown at it.

Eight months later, Morti’s death is still hard for Reyes to talk about.

“Morti gave me the will to fight harder, to not take no for an answer,” Reyes said. “She’s the reason I foster— to save cats like her. She did so much with so little in such a short time. She changed my life, made me better. Her legacy, for me, is to try to save every cat we can — to advocate for cats.”

Reyes said she is hopeful the proposed bookstore will not only enable Pet Pals to adopt out more pets, but also bring in money to help with medical expenses for other animals like Morti. The Outlets management team was eager to help, but, Frieberg finished, “It’s going to take money to make money.”

The first estimate, Reyes said, was $27,000 to open the new book store and cat adoption facility.

“But one of our volunteer’s husbands will do the labor for free if we can raise $15,000,” she said. “The money will be mostly used to build the cat rooms.”

After the money is raised, the work should take only a few months. At first, the bookstore will be open from noon to 6 p.m. weekends.

Reyes and Frieberg laughed when asked if books could be donated.

“Probably in the fall,” Reyes said. “Right now, we have a lot of books.”

They will also need volunteers to staff the store.

And that cat café idea? Patrons are welcome to bring their own coffee to sip as they browse or pause to read — perhaps with a cat or two on their lap.