RHIANNA BROWN

With the smell of open wet cat food containers and the chill of the wind outside, Diann Stelzer sits in her van anticipating for when the next cat will walk into the trap. If the cat spots her, she looks away immediately as if she wasn't there to avoid the cat getting anxious and running away. She says its quite similar to fishing, waiting for hours at a time to come back with many cats or none at all. 

Stelzer is a Columbia local who started Barnie’s Place Feline Rescue, a non-profit cat rescue, and works for the Spay and Neuter project to take direct action towards helping animals in the community. Stelzer is the president and director for Barnie's Place where she takes charge in shaping its vision and programs. She hosts adoption events and goes out to trap, neuter, and release (TNR) cats in the neighborhood. Barnie’s Place, named in memory of the cat Barnie who was trapped in 2015, seeks to provide care and a loving home for cats who are stray/feral, have challenging medical needs, or other reasons why they might be deemed unadoptable.

Stelzer has a few cats and one dog back home. She has a cat room where she takes care of cats with special needs such as teeth issues, eye injuries, and more. Sometimes things can be tough to handle emotionally, but compassion is an absolute must.

“If it’s easy, then I need to get out [of this work],” said Stelzer, “It has to be hard. It’s about their quality of life.”

For now, Stelzer plans to keep hosting adoption events to help reduce the number of cats her foster families have in total. After the number decreases, she plans to have the rescue focus back on TNR procedures and build up to having their own rescue shelter to call home. 

Thank you to Diann for letting me join her on her journey for the last few months before leaving Columbia, Mo. This experience touched my heart and I can't wait to see what her and everyone at Barnie's Place Feline Rescue accomplishes in the future.