May 13, 2004

Volunteer of the Week: Janice Frazier

As a young girl growing up in Alamo, Calif., Janice Frazier never had her own cat. But that didn’t stop her from feeding and caring for the neighborhood strays and their continuous procession of litters that came begging at the door. Frazier’s childhood helping homeless animals has come full circle and she now volunteers with Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary [SHAS]. She has fostered more than 45 feral, mother cats, their kittens and adult felines the past two years. And she does it all from her home in Almaden with special rooms specific for the cats’ needs.

Frazier’s love of animals occurred in early childhood while riding a friend’s horses when she was 2. The feeding and care of the stray cats continued and the family adopted one of the kittens.

Monikered Frosty for the white tips on his black fur, he was neutered to end the kitten cycle. She adopted her first dog, Jessie, an Australian husky mix, during her last year in college at the University of California at Berkeley. Doing graduate work in chemistry at U.C. San Diego, she bought her first horse. Laid off from Hitachi last year, Frazier now spends more time with her passion of caring for homeless animals.

“The goal of Safe Haven is to spay or neuter and find good homes for all our animals,”

Frazier said as she scooped up a tiny gray kitten. “Honey, are you hungry? Then drink from mom,” she asked the kitten, placing the mewing 10-ounce offspring with her mother, Ebony, the mother of the litter of five.

Frazier’s small charges were found abandoned in a garage. Too young to be adopted, SHAS placed the family with Frazier. The smallest kitten, Napoleon, needs hand feeding with droppers full of KMR, a formula for orphaned cats. The felines are kept in a special room with all the accruements needed. Signs on the door state “Wash your hands” and “Keep the door shut.” Frazier checks on the family every couple of hours—that is when she’s not feeding, playing and socializing with them.

“Ebony was around people,” Frazier said while petting the black longhaired, sweet-natured mother cat. “The semi-feral I keep in a large cage or the bathroom until they’re used to me, and then I put them in a room upstairs where they can move around more.”

SHAS began three years ago. Their dedicated volunteers open their homes to the orphaned cats and kittens until they are ready to be adopted. The organization also has a sanctuary on loaned property for cats deemed unadoptable. Phase 1, the no-kill facility for cats, is complete. Buildings are planned for a variety of animals and inquiries are being conducted for a permanent location.

“Janice is a very dedicated and eager volunteer.” Ginny Nichols, president of SHAS said. “She is always available and ‘steps right up to the plate’ to help. I wish I had 10 more like her.”

Besides in-home care, other SHAS volunteers specialize in feeding, trapping, spay/neuter and release of feral cats. The undomesticated cats have lived in the wild so long; they would never make good house pets. Dedicated SHAS volunteers care for them and break the kitten cycle.

And then there are the special-needs animals. A Manx named Max was one of them. The breed is known for being tailless, but Max’s was so short the nerve endings to his hindquarters were missing, hence he never knew when to use the litter box. This made him unadoptable and a special-needs animal. SHAS contacted Best Friend’s Animal Sanctuary in Utah, which has facilities for Max and a better chance of finding him a home. Frazier and other SHAS volunteers flew to Las Vegas, rented a car and drove the four hours to take Max to his new habitat where he will be cared for the rest of his life, if need be.

Frazier also volunteers at SHAS’s Pet Adoption Fair held at Pet Club on Snell Avenue and Blossom Hill Road the first three Saturdays of every month. It is here that the fostered cats and kittens find their future families.
“Janice is one of the most motivated foster volunteers we have,” Diane Cascia, pet fair coordinator for SHAS said. “She never says no to help the cats and is so good at socializing them. She is one of our best volunteers. Not only that, she is good at matching people with the right cat at the pet adoption fairs.”

Horses and trails
Besides her work with homeless animals, Frazier is past president and served on the board of the Santa Clara County Horseman’s Association. She spends 20 hours a month on Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department Trail Watch, inspecting the paths, looking for trees down, litter, and anything out of the ordinary. She helps organize with the mounted unit of the Parks Department so that dedications and trails will be represented by equestrians.

Frazier also serves on the Volunteer Coordinating Council for the Parks Department and has served on three park master plan task forces. She was instrumental working as a liaison for the Stiles Trail with IBM. And she is very excited about coordinating the 10 hours of community service required by schools to include trail building.

So what does this volunteering dynamo do in her free time? She cares for her own adopted two cats, dog, four horses and two parakeets. Frazier and her husband, Dan, belong to the American Carousel Society and the American Coaster Enthusiasts, which offers opportunities to explore her other love: traveling. An accomplished seamstress and craftsperson, she created her own wedding accessories and favors when she married Dan two years ago after a 15-year courtship. And yes, he likes animals. She also writes for newsletters and magazines of the organizations for which she volunteers. Her eclectic nature includes a passion for ballet and theater. And, no, “Cats” is not her favorite musical, She prefers the “Scarlet Pimpernel” and “Phantom of the Opera.” Perhaps it’s because she has the real felines at home.

—By Jeanne C. Lewis

For more information on volunteering or donations, call Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary [408] 420-SAFE or go to www.safehavenanimalsanctuary.org.

To see pets available for adoption, visit the Pet Adoption Fair the first three Saturdays of each month at Pet Club, 5625 Snell Avenue, San Jose (408) 363-6068.