She loves to see them leave

Andrew Edwards

Kim Dalebroux loves to see an empty cage.

“Oh my gosh, did Starbuck get adopted?” Dalebroux asked as she

approached the animal’s former home.

“He did,” she exclaimed after a closer look revealed Starbuck, a

cat who had spent about six months without an owner, had moved on to

bigger and better things.

Dalebroux, a 47-year-old Costa Mesa resident, has volunteered for

about two years with the Orange County Animal Rescue Coalition, a

group that rescues cats from a shelter in Corona and gives the

felines a second chance at life. She joined the group shortly after

it was formed. “Right after we started, we put out a pledge for

volunteers, and she was one of our first,” said Fran Moore, the

group’s director.

Moore credited Dalebroux with being one of the group’s more active

members. “She just pitches in whenever we ask her,” Moore said.

Dalebroux, who is employed as a special education teacher in

Huntington Beach, spends three or four days a week volunteering with

the cats that stay at the Petsmart store on 18th Street in Costa

Mesa.

She takes care of the felines after she finishes teaching but said

she likes to make herself available whenever an animal needs aid.

“Fran can call me and say, ‘so-and-so needs medication,’ and I’m

pretty good at pilling a cat,” Dalebroux said.

During the week, Dalebroux’s job is to keep the cats in good

health and prepare them for adoption. Part of her time with the

animals is spent taking them out of cages and giving them a chance to

socialize.

“It’s not just about cleaning up the cages; it’s playing with

them, brushing them,” she said.

Saturdays are adoption days for the coalition’s cats, and

Dalebroux helps screen prospective owners. To adopt a cat from the

coalition, a person must pledge to keep the cat inside and to never

declaw the animal.

The cost to adopt a cat is $95, which covers medical expenses. All

cats rescued by the coalition are spayed or neutered and get their

shots before adoption. To advertise the cats, Dalebroux sometimes

appears on “The Pet Place,” a show on KDOC-TV that showcases pets in

need of homes.

Dalebroux looks forward to meeting new animals rescued from the

shelter but said she prefers that the cats are in her care for a only

short time. “I like seeing the new faces, and then I like not seeing

them,” she said.