Karen Slomba Executive Director, Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County
For more than ten years, Karen Slomba has worked tirelessly to save the lives of thousands of animals, with an emphasis on cats. Today, Slomba is the Executive Director at the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County in Port Charlotte, Florida.
Slomba began her lifesaving career in 2007 as the Director of Operations for Ten Lives Club, Inc. in Buffalo, New York. She was responsible for managing two free-roaming cat shelters, an off-site infirmary, and a mobile clinic. Slomba was also a founding member of the Animal Alliance of Western New York, which launched the Maddie’s Pet Rescue Project of Erie County; a five-year, $5,000,000 initiative to create a no-kill community. The project was a resounding success.
Slomba has been protecting cats in Florida since 2011 as the former Director of Operations for Cat Depot and Associate Director at Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue.
In her just over a year at the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County, Slomba has brought her shelter’s live release rate up from 72% to 97%. She credits this rapid and remarkable change to Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) and Return-To-Field (RTF) programs, and to redefining the term “adoptable” to include animals with conditions such as FIV, FeLV, ringworm, heartworm, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, and more.