Celebrating 15 Years of Saving Kittens

First-of-its-kind nursery has saved more than 27,000 kittens since 2009

San Diego Humane Society is celebrating a major anniversary in our organization’s long history of lifesaving: the Jim Lester Kitten Nursery & Foster Center is now open for its 15th season. The nursery has saved more than 27,000 kittens since opening in 2009.

The Lester Kitten Nursery at the our San Diego Campus was once the first of its kind in the nation. It was created to meet the unique needs of neonate kittens, or kittens under eight weeks of age. Young kittens are one of the most at-risk populations to enter shelters because of the time and resources needed to keep them alive. But San Diego Humane Society is dedicated to finding solutions for the most challenging issues in animal welfare, and this nursery was the innovative answer the organization needed to address the annual influx of kittens.

Since launching in 2009, San Diego Humane Society now has nurseries at our San Diego, Escondido and Oceanside campuses. And today, an extensive network of specially trained foster volunteers plays a key role in this lifesaving work. These dedicated fosters raise kittens in their homes and provide around-the-clock care until the babies are big enough for adoption.

To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the nursery, two of its earliest arrivals of the season have been named Rose and Ruby, pictured below, after the traditional symbols associated with the milestone: the flower and gemstone. These tiny kittens were just days old when they arrived, and extremely vulnerable. They are now receiving around-the-clock care in a foster home until they’re big enough for adoption.

San Diego Humane Society will welcome thousands of kittens like Rose and Ruby this year alone. “Our Lester Kitten Nursery is critical to helping us stay at zero euthanasia of healthy or treatable shelter animals,” said Jackie Noble, Sr. Director of Behavior, Nursery and Foster at San Diego Humane Society. “In other communities, baby kittens often have nowhere to turn. But here in San Diego, we are committed to giving every kitten who needs us a second chance.”