Writing Samples

Molly, Mason, and Susie, a year and a half old littermates, were brought to Paws and Claws from an animal shelter located over 100 miles away in Indiana. The trio was surrendered to the Indiana shelter together and were at risk for euthanasia there.

In early August, Camden was rescued from being one of the thousands of cats euthanized annually in Illinois, with just five minutes to spare. Camden, also known as "Cam," arrived at Paws and Claws with swollen, infected eyes and an upper respiratory infection. He received consistent supportive care, including eye drops, multiple doses of medication daily, and warm compresses for his eyes.

Cahira has been navigating medical challenges since before she was even born, but she hasn't let it dampen her spirit. Her mother, Sumi, was very sick when she was carrying Cahira and her four siblings, causing them to be born with congenital birth defects. Although Sumi was able to safely give birth to five kittens, Cahira and her brother Clancy were the only two to make it.

In early November, Smilodon was rescued from a forest preserve in a local suburb. She was malnourished and in rough shape, with ticks and fleas covering her entire body. She had matted fur, large wounds on her back, and an abscess under her tail. We had no idea how bad she was until we got her and took her out of the carrier. She was one of the most malnourished cats we have ever seen.

Sprout and his five siblings were left at Paws and Claws' doorstep this past August, all crammed into one small carrier. His health took a turn for the worst quickly. Sprout was rushed to a veterinarian the night before Thanksgiving where they did an ultrasound and discovered he had intussusception, meaning his intestines were slipping on themselves and causing obstructions.

At just five months old, Roly and Poly have already adapted to living with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH). CH is a congenital neurological disorder caused by improper development of the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls coordination and fine motor skills.

Simon and Theodore traveled 800 miles from West Monroe, Louisiana, to find refuge at Paws and Claws Cat Rescue in Evanston, Illinois. These two are just 10 months old and have feline leukemia virus (FeLV), a disease that compromises a cat’s immune system and shortens their lifespan.

Winter and Spring, a mom and kitten duo, were brought to us from Indiana. The mom, Winter, is two years old and her kitten Spring is six months old. We believe they were strays before coming to us due to the condition they were in.

Eight-month-old Barney has been fighting every day just to make it to the next. He came to us from southern Illinois on January 4 as a perfectly healthy kitten. After being in a foster home for a month and a half, he was just about to be ready for adoption when his health took a rapid downward spiral.

On March 21, Dr. Youn conducted Paws and Claws' first-ever in-house surgery on newly rescued felines. Up until this point, every time we had a cat that required a procedure such as spaying or neutering, we had to find volunteers to transport them to a veterinarian over an hour away.

On February 1, we received three cats from one of our partner shelters, which had taken in 110 cats from a hoarding case in a Chicago suburb. All 110 of these cats were under 3 years old. Often, hoarding situations start when two unaltered cats begin to have kittens and it spirals out of control.

The average length of stay for a cat at Paws and Claws is 40 days; however, some cats unfortunately stay a lot longer than that. Pomegranate, a five-year-old black cat, joined us in September 2023. She was previously at risk of euthanasia, through no fault of her own, at her former shelter in northern Indiana.

We have 20 partner shelters from which we regularly pull from. These shelters range from the Chicagoland area and southern Illinois to Indiana and Michigan. A common factor among these locations is that they're typically in very rural areas, leading to understaffing and an overwhelming number of animals.

The Monday after Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida, a group of 5 created the grassroots organization, Rebuild SWFL, to aid the devastation in areas around Southwest Florida that were overlooked.

The final day of Lee County’s annual census count of the area's homeless population concluded with the Homeless Service Day and Veterans Stand Down. The event was hosted Saturday by the Lee County Homeless Coalition at the City of Palms Park and Sports Complex.

The Special Equestrians center in Buckingham is preparing to reopen November 1, after volunteers repaired damage and cleared debris from Hurricane Ian. The center allows children and adults with disabilities to ride horses.

The largest Burmese python ever discovered in Florida was captured from the Everglades and brought to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for research. The female python, weighing in at 215 pounds and 18 feet long, had 122 eggs inside of her, which is the largest egg count ever recorded for a python.

On June 11, over 400 people gathered in downtown Fort Myers as part of the nationwide March For Our Lives demonstration for gun reform. Speakers used personal experiences to call for stricter gun laws and regulations.

"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" was meant to be a gag Christmas gift for friends and family, nothing more. Dr. Elmo Shropshire didn't expect the success that came once it played on the radio.

The Board of Trustees elected Aysegul Timur as FGCU’s fifth president on May 4, 2023. This will make her FGCU’s first female president. “I can’t believe that I will be writing history,” Timur told Eagle News. “I’m just so honored.”

Everyone who went to Eagle Fest was inspired by Wolfy G’s words on the stage. Gabriel Dials, distinctively known as Wolfy G, was the student opener for the Programming Board’s biggest event of the year.

Small business owner Vincent “Vinny” Lamanna has been operating Vinnys Customs out of his dorm room at FGCU. With his ever-growing business, his custom shoes were noticed by a professional athlete for the first time, a player on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Students, faculty and staff members were alerted today at 3:11 p.m. of an accidental disclosure on Feb. 8 of a file containing information about Eagle ID cards created prior to Aug. 25, 2022.

The unauthorized party disclosed their access to FGCU in regards to accessing a file containing names, UINs, and FGCU-specific Eagle ID card numbers.

FGCU takes pride in the sustainability that they teach and practice on campus. As the university continues to grow its efforts to promote “green” values, they have been recognized as the first university to become Blue Zones certified worksite in Florida.

The FGCU Board of Trustees has postponed announcing FGCU’s fifth president after deliberation today. The three finalists, Dr. Tod Laursen, Dr. Robert Gregerson and Dr. Susana Rivera-Mills, each attended three public forums at FGCU with the expectation to know the final decision of the presidency today.