{"id":465844,"date":"2025-12-23T04:26:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/465844\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T04:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:26:30","slug":"meet-san-diegos-viral-kitten-lady-rescuing-in-need-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/465844\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet San Diego\u2019s Viral \u201cKitten Lady” Rescuing In-Need Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s always kitten season in San Diego.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t sound like a problem (cute babies!), but for Hannah \u201cKitten Lady\u201d Shaw, it\u2019s a big issue<\/a>\u2014one she\u2019s dedicated her life to solving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved to San Diego in 2018 because it is a very special place for kitten welfare,\u201d says Shaw, who has lived all over the country. \u201cAll along the southern border of the US is where we see the most kittens coming in. At many animal shelters<\/a>, the policy is to euthanize any kitten under eight weeks, [or adoption age].<\/p>\n

\"CatsCourtesy of Hannah Shaw<\/p>\n

National statistics for 2025<\/a> show that, of all the cats dying in shelters, 58 percent are pre-adoption-age. \u201cThat\u2019s because they can\u2019t stay in the shelter overnight,\u201d Shaw explains. \u201cThey\u2019re dependent on around-the-clock care, and most shelters don\u2019t provide that.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re shocked to hear that young kittens are often euthanized, you\u2019re experiencing the same emotion that set Shaw on a new path. Seventeen years ago, after rescuing a neonatal kitten from a tree, she called a friend who worked at a shelter, only to learn that the little one likely wouldn\u2019t make it there.<\/p>\n

\"SanCourtesy of Hannah Shaw<\/p>\n

\u201cI found it horrifying, and I ended up adopting her,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI started finding kittens everywhere and caring for them. People started calling me and saying, \u2018Hey, are you that kitten lady?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A few years later, Shaw began developing relationships with shelters. At that time, foster programs didn\u2019t exist in the way they do now, so her idea was to be able to take home neonates and raise them to adoption age, only to be bowled over by the sheer volume of kittens arriving on a near-daily basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have over one million of these kittens coming into shelters every year,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was incredibly overwhelming. I couldn\u2019t look away, but I also couldn\u2019t do it all myself,\u201d Shaw says. She started teaching everyone in her network to become fosters: friends, neighbors, colleagues of friends of friends.<\/p>\n

\"CatsCourtesy of Hannah Shaw<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, I was like, \u2018Maybe I\u2019ll make a couple little videos, so I don\u2019t have to keep repeating myself,\u2019\u201d she adds. This was the early days of YouTube; it was little more than a video hosting site where Shaw could send a quick link to neonate newbies. Nevertheless, views started climbing\u20141,000, then 10,000\u2014as strangers shared her content<\/a>. \u201cIt was people just like me who found kittens and were realizing that the animal shelter couldn\u2019t help them,\u201d she says. \u201cThey wanted to care for them and needed to learn how to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Nowadays, Shaw\u2019s online presence<\/a> is enormous, with more than four million followers across all her channels. For a decade, saving kittens has been her full-time career: She speaks at conferences and other events, produces a massive volume of educational materials, and has written 11 books, all with the goal of making animal lovers aware of the huge problem these tiny cats face\u2014and how they can help.<\/p>\n

For the everyday person, that looks like working with local organizations including San Diego\u2019s Feral Cat Coalition<\/a> to trap, spay or neuter, and release strays (\u201ccommunity cats,\u201d as Shaw calls them) to reduce the number of animals born each year. And, of course, the most direct way to save kitten lives is to foster. \u201cAny of us can put some kittens in our bathroom for three weeks, and that could be the reason that they survive,\u201d Shaw affirms.<\/p>\n

\"KittenCourtesy of Hannah Shaw<\/p>\n

In 2016, Shaw built another platform for supporting pre-adoption-age cats: Orphan Kitten Club<\/a>, a nonprofit that turns donations into lifesaving programs, research, and grants. \u201cIf a shelter doesn\u2019t have supplies, we fund supplies. If it doesn\u2019t have a physical space [for neonate kittens], we fund a physical space,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe even fund kitten-focused staff members.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club\u2019s grants<\/a> have provided surgeries for cats born with congenital defects or impacted by injuries\u2014and inspired other shelters to perform the same operations on animals whose cases were previously considered hopeless. To date, the organization has given out over $4 million.<\/p>\n

\"CatCourtesy of Hannah Shaw<\/p>\n

While the stats she shares are heartbreaking, Shaw\u2019s socials also constantly highlight the stories of cats who got their second chance<\/a>. There\u2019s Avery, a tiny \u201ctripod\u201d who found love at first sight with her foster parent\u2019s mom. And Freebie, who was saved after someone posted her in a \u201cBuy Nothing\u201d Facebook group<\/a> when she was just three weeks old. And Maxine, who arrived at an SD shelter in a maxi pad box\u2014her story went mega-viral<\/a>, and now she\u2019s inspiring people all over the country to take in babies just like her.<\/p>\n

It helps that Shaw and Orphan Kitten Club tend to post some pretty gorgeous pictures of the kittens, thanks in part to Andrew \u201cThe Cat Photographer<\/a>\u201d Marttila, Shaw\u2019s husband. The two met in 2016.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cA friend told me about his work\u2014they said, \u2018Oh, you gotta follow this guy\u2019s Instagram; he\u2019s a professional cat photographer.<\/a>\u2019 I was like, \u2018That\u2019s the craziest-sounding job ever, other than professional kitten educator,\u2019\u201d Shaw remembers. \u201cWe ended up arranging to do a photo shoot of some kittens. Now, we\u2019ve been together for almost a decade.\u201d Shaw and Marttila married in April 2023 at Farm Animal Refuge<\/a> in Campo, where their rescue pig served as ringbearer.<\/p>\n

\"CatPhoto Credit: Andrew Marttila<\/p>\n

Recently, the couple got the opportunity to combine their talents for Cats of the World<\/a>, their 2024 book featuring photos and tales of kitties from 30 countries. The project took several years to complete. \u201cThe most profound thing that I learned from it is that there\u2019s really not a corner of the Earth that doesn\u2019t have somebody taking compassionate action for animals,\u201d Shaw says. \u201cEven on the most remote island [or] rural part of the world\u2014it doesn\u2019t matter where you go; there are cats everywhere, and there are people being kind to cats.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think I would find myself on the back of a motorcycle going around India with people who grew up really, really differently than I did, but who share this love of cats. There\u2019s a softening that can happen when you realize that there are a lot of different ways to be a loving and compassionate person in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"CatsCourtesy of Hannah Shaw<\/p>\n

Shaw models many of those ways herself: In between traveling, filming, and running a nonprofit, she still somehow finds time to personally foster high-needs kittens, in addition to caring for her own six rescue pets. Orphan Kitten Club\u2019s programs have impacted more than 88,000 cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach of these individuals is one in a million, but they\u2019re also all one of a million, and I can\u2019t personally put my hands on one million kittens. That\u2019s the harder and heavier thing for me,\u201d Shaw says. \u201cBut sadness is a motivator. We get to see these amazing transformations and know that every kitten has so much potential to be somebody\u2019s best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

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