Dog o' Day
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Woman helps rehome 100 dogs and pets before their senior owners passed away and everyone’s in tears

ByGiovanna Mengarelli|
SARABURI, THAILAND - MARCH 03: Kawiporn "Auntie Tim" Vinijthaopatom checks a dog for insects at the CHSAThai Stray Animal Shelter on March 03, 2023 in Saraburi, Thailand. Kawiporn Vinijthaopatom, 73, who goes by "Auntie Tim" is the first Thai woman to be featured on a Hershey's chocolate bar wrapper as part of their "SHE cares" campaign for International Women's Day. Auntie Tim was recognized for over 20 years of dedication to rescuing stray animals in Bangkok, Thailand and its surrounding Provinces where she actively cares for over 2,000 dogs and cats. Her journey started after buying her family's first childhood pet, a shitzu. She saw other dogs in shops that no one wanted and dogs who had been abandoned at the vets and decided that she would give them a home. Her house went from one to ten and continued growing. Now, each morning Auntie Time and her son Anunthorn, 33, wake up at sunrise to take care of the 80 dogs at her own home before going to work at the CHSAThai Stray Animal Shelter, which she opened in Saraburi, Thailand over 10 years ago. Along with a staff of 17, comprised mostly of women, Auntie Tim also makes rounds every evening in unpopulated areas to feed stray dogs and monkeys. Operating solely on donations, including individuals and private donors, CHSAThai's monthly expenses are about 500,000 Thai Baht (approx. $14,417 USD). (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
SARABURI, THAILAND - MARCH 03: Kawiporn "Auntie Tim" Vinijthaopatom checks a dog for insects at the CHSAThai Stray Animal Shelter on March 03, 2023 in Saraburi, Thailand. Kawiporn Vinijthaopatom, 73, who goes by "Auntie Tim" is the first Thai woman to be featured on a Hershey's chocolate bar wrapper as part of their "SHE cares" campaign for International Women's Day. Auntie Tim was recognized for over 20 years of dedication to rescuing stray animals in Bangkok, Thailand and its surrounding Provinces where she actively cares for over 2,000 dogs and cats. Her journey started after buying her family's first childhood pet, a shitzu. She saw other dogs in shops that no one wanted and dogs who had been abandoned at the vets and decided that she would give them a home. Her house went from one to ten and continued growing. Now, each morning Auntie Time and her son Anunthorn, 33, wake up at sunrise to take care of the 80 dogs at her own home before going to work at the CHSAThai Stray Animal Shelter, which she opened in Saraburi, Thailand over 10 years ago. Along with a staff of 17, comprised mostly of women, Auntie Tim also makes rounds every evening in unpopulated areas to feed stray dogs and monkeys. Operating solely on donations, including individuals and private donors, CHSAThai's monthly expenses are about 500,000 Thai Baht (approx. $14,417 USD). (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

Ever hear of someone so special that you just wish that you could give them a hug in person to express your gratitude for something that they did? That’s how the whole internet is feelings right now about a woman named Angela Rafuse. She started a charity called My Grandfather’s Cat. Since starting the charity, she has helped rehome over 100 dogs/pets before their senior owners passed away.

Rafuse was first inspired to start her charity when, unfortunately, her 85 year-old grandfather passed away and left behind his cat named Mackenzie.

Learn more about how Rafuse will rehome a pet/dog before their senior owner passes away.

After Rafuse’s grandfather had passed away, she was also dealing with the grief of a bad breakup, as if she didn’t already have enough on her plate to deal with. Because of this, she moved back home with her parents and was faced with the harsh reality: Mackenzie either goes up for adoption or she adopts her, since none of her other family members had the capacity to do so.

Since she officially decided to take in Mackenzie the Calico herself, it got her thinking and that’s where the whole idea of My Grandfather’s Cat came from.

This charity helps with the adoption of both cats and dogs “belonging to seniors who are either terminally ill or wishing to enter a retirement home”. This is something that I never even thought of doing, but it’s because of people like Angela that help make this world a better place for both humans and animals.

Senior
Senior

How did she get her charity jumpstarted and the word out there? Well through TikTok, of course! While living in her parents’ basement with Mackenzie, she began posting almost daily TikTok videos, eventually growing to over 30,000 followers and over 656,000 views per video. Countless people were commenting how pets belonging to seniors that they knew were just being taken into the shelters after their senior owners had passed away.

The year that she launched her charity officially was on May 18th of that year, her grandfather’s birthday. And since then, 100 pets have been rehomed because of her amazing actions.

Here’s the process, just in case you’re looking, as to how they choose said pets to help out:

  • Most people are referred to My Grandfather’s Cat through care homes/shelters
  • Submit an application – then the team writes a social media post about you
  • People who are interested are then interviewed
  • After finding out who may be a good fit, the senior has a chance to interview said family

Straight from Angela Rafuse’s mouth, she said the following quote:

"“The senior then picks their pet’s second forever home — and the adoptees can stay in touch with the new owner who will share updates. It gives me so much purpose in life — and I have an amazing team of volunteers.”"

If you’re needing to looking into something like this, chcek out all of Angela Rafuse’s social medias, TikTok videos from back in the day, as well as My Grandfather’s Cat’s website to find out even more about this wonderful process. Kudos to you Angela and as always…….Woof, Woof!!

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