July 12, 2007

From chemist to cat rescuer Animal activist

Dan Dawson finds joy in helping felines throughout Santa Clara County

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

When Dan Dawson grew up, he never had a pet. Now, the Almaden resident has had hundreds.

Dawson, 60, provides foster care to cats and kittens, hosts adoption fairs and even traps feral cats. That’s when he’s not contributing time volunteering at Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary [SHAS], Pet Awareness and Welfare Society [PAWS] or the San Jose Animal Care Center. And he likes it that way.

Three Himalayan kittens were recently turned in to Dan Dawson and Janice Frazier from a former rescuer in the neighborhood. Soon they will be available for adoption. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

“When a cat looks me in the eye, I have to save it,” said the amiable Dawson. “It’s so rewarding.”

Dawson’s journey to animal activist started innocently enough. Born in Philadelphia, the family moved to Huntsville, Ala. and then North Carolina as his father accepted different army jobs as a civil servant.

The middle child with a brother and sister, Dawson remembers his siblings once bought him a parakeet but the bird escaped from the shoebox before he received his gift.

He attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and then Cal Tech in Pasadena. He loved California, but a postdoctoral degree in chemistry was waiting for him at Harvard University.

A professor recommended Dawson to a start-up company called Dynapol in Palo Alto. He stayed there for 10 years working as a chemist experimenting with polymeric food additives and then as an area director until the business closed its doors. Many of Dynapol’s chemists were hired by IBM and Dawson was one of them.

In 1984, he met Janice Frazier, a fellow chemist at IBM. They married in 2002 after a 15-year courtship. About that time, the couple met Diane Cascia, an IBM employee, who rescued cats that were abandoned on the IBM Cottle Road property, and serendipity occurred.

Dawson and Frazier started out by adopting a cat, Alex, from Cascia, who suggested that their home setup would be ideal for fostering. Soon, the couple expanded their activities to include trapping and finding new homes for the cats. Alex still lives at the couple’s home in Almaden.

Through SHAS, they host adoption fairs and became even more involved with cat rescue. And they are both proponents of Trap, Neuter and Return [TNR].

SHAS started eight years ago and was founded on the belief that no animal should go hungry, homeless or live in fear or pain. The organization believes all animals deserve to be treated with dignity, kindness and respect and provided with care that increases their opportunity for a safe life.

The group’s mission is to offer care and a peaceful living environment in foster homes for abused, disabled, aged or homeless animals, providing them with medical care, love, and attention leading to adoption. SHAS is a nonprofit staffed entirely by volunteers like Dawson, with all funding through private donations and corporate sponsorship.

Dawson also joined PAWS. Its mission is to support and work with the San Jose Animal Care & Services to reduce the number of homeless animals and to increase awareness of the value of companion pets in the home and community. This can be accomplished through, but not limited to, promotion of educational, medical and behavioral assistance programs.

“Trapping takes time,” said Dan Dawson here with one of the drop traps he built. “There’s a three- to four-hour window at dusk or dawn to trap a cat. And many times you return again and again trying to trap one cat. When and if you finally do there is a rush. I guess it’s the hunter’s instinct.”

“Dan supports the Homeless Cat Committee,” said PAWS President Randee McQueen. “And he helps at the shelter with intake and educates the public about the vouchers and micro chipping. The vouchers cost $10 and $20 so a cat can be altered at the shelter. And he’s the one with real tenacity at trapping cats. He even builds the traps.”

In 2004, Dawson retired from IBM Research after 22 years. He spends Saturdays at PetSmart in Campbell at adoption fairs transporting felines in need of a new domicile and interviewing potential adopters. He rescues feral and stray cats even building the drop traps sometimes needed to capture the animals. He assists at San Jose Animal Care & Services and has offered to teach volunteers how to trap, neuter and release there as part of PAWS.

“Dan is more committed than I am in many ways,” said Frazier. “He always wants to help the animals even if it means too many at our place. He’s the one who caught our white rat with red eyes at Santa Teresa Park who never would have made it outside. ‘Ratty’ lived two-and-a-half years with us before dying of cancer. From that start now we do rescue full time…about 180 cats a year pass through our house either for adoption or TNR.”

Dawson and Frazier’s home is a safe haven for cats and kittens until a proper home or another foster home is found. It is stocked full of pens, toys, food, litter and medication for their small charges. They spend countless hours caring for sick animals as well as socializing the abused and traumatized; they drive 12,000—15,000 miles per year for trapping, cat transfer, veterinary visits and adoption fairs. And they have four horses, three cats and a dog of their own to care for.

“I worked for a small company and had a big impact, but it still went belly up,” said a reflective Dawson. “Then I went to a big company and my impact was small on their global scale. In the end, saving a kitten or cat is much more rewarding to me.”