TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Southern Arizona Cat Rescue's Hunter's Kitten Lounge has rebuilt after an unexpected window break.
Usually, life at Hunter's Kitten Lounge is calm, the cat's meow, for both the cats and their visitors.
That was disrupted one morning when one of the rescue's directors, Melissa Lesinsky, came into work to find that one of their windows in their retail space had been kicked in.
Lesinsky said at first, she was stunned, then she took action.
“I posted and said, 'hey if you want to donate to the rescue to help us cover this, so we don’t have to pull money out of our savings, we would love this,'" Lesinsky said. "I really expected to get maybe a couple hundred dollars.”
Twelve hours later, the rescue had raised enough to cover their $1,000 insurance deductible, but 24 hours later, they wouldn't need to pay it.
Tucson construction company AZ Construction stepped up to do the repair and cover all associated costs.
“I reached out to Melissa and just said, 'hey how can we help.'” AZ Construction Marketing Director Ty Young.
As a team of cat lovers, he said the company owners immediately agreed to fix the window for free, even upgrading the glass from standard to tinted, tempered glass.
While tempered glass is slightly more expensive—AZ Construction says 40%-50%—than standard window glass, it's a safer option.
“It shatters into a million pieces, but typically it stays in its place until it's removed,” said AZ Construction Project Manager Ed Miranda.
“We’re a construction company—you know— and people think we’re just a bunch of big dudes with big trucks and big jobs and big equipment," said Young. "But we do like our little kitties, and the people here help these cats and help us as a community every single day.”
Now, the about $1,600 raised by Southern Arizona Cat Rescue that could have gone to fixing the window can now go to daily operations, saving the rescue's savings account.
However, Lesinsky says that any time a rescue needs to dip into savings is tough, so donations—physical and financial are always welcome.
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Alex Dowd is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9, where her work combines her two favorite hobbies: talking to new people and learning about the community around her. Her goal is to eventually meet every single person in Tucson. Share your story ideas with Alex via email, alex.dowd@kgun9.com, or connecting on Instagram or X.
