Watching a bit of the Paris Olympics after dinner at a friend’s the other night, the joy of international camaraderie was contagious. A Ukrainian woman earning the high jump gold clearly won so much more than a medal in global goodwill, & not just for herself. Such is the paradoxical nature of the Games, at once a celebration of homeland and a unifying moment of connection beyond the artifice of boundaries. In humble southwest Wyoming, my Ukrainian friend Oksana found her own connection, marrying a long-time oil field operator who had been helping her learn English online. Oksana’s unlikely path to Shero-ism was creating Small Town Community Cats to serve those domestic felines who live without benefit of sharing a human home.

The communities she and her volunteer cadre work in are so small not even many Wyomingites recognize their names, but her organization has earned a reputation that keeps expanding their service area. We first met her husband Ted when we donated our car to their cause after inheriting a lower-mileage Subaru (from a child-less cat lady). Their focus on Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) provides a not-uncontroversial remedy to the hopelessness of ‘feral’ cats in animal shelters, where they almost always end up killed, typically using funds from taxpayers who consider themselves compassionate human beings. Community cats are sometimes targeted as bird predators, but TNR is not only more compassionate, it’s more effective. Because neutered cats loyal to their known neighborhood defend their territory, un-neutered animals won’t move in and keep multiplying. (Rather than blame cats, people might consider actions we can take to support birds and habitat, like slower speed limits, less driving, shade-grown coffee, etc.)

Another friend in Denver, when she heard my book proceeds will go to animal welfare organizations, suggested her favorite TNR group, The Feline Fix, as one deserving support. This group includes affordable spay/neuter services alongside their humane TNR program, to help cats, communities and the people who love them. Community members who regularly feed and often also provide outdoor shelter for cat colonies offer their commitments without any expectations for acclaim. But winning the sense of membership within, and reciprocity among Earth’s incredible tangled web of life is trophy enough.