Service club Claws With a Cause are ‘feline’ good with increased membership

Over the past year, Haylee Huffman, a sophomore marketing major, has visited cats at local animal shelters through Claws With a Cause, an organization she joined during her second semester on campus, because she wants to make an impact for these animals.

Huffman said she joined and became president of Claws With A Cause to help raise awareness about the abandonment and overpopulation of stray cats in Oxford.

“They are, at the end of the day, animals that don’t have a voice that need our help,” she said.

Huffman said member participation dropped significantly after the COVID-19 quarantine, so she was the only executive member when she joined.

Huffman worked with fellow member, sophomore psychology and neuroscience major Jordan Krenz, to revitalize the organization. Since then, Claws With a Cause has seen an increase in its number of members and its engagement with the community. Huffman said their staff of two has transformed into a fully staffed executive body.

Krenz, now the vice president, said she is astounded by how things have changed.

“It’s been really cool seeing the switch from when I joined,” she said. “The fact that they didn't really put that much work into it, to now see a full-fledged club that we made [is amazing].”

In keeping with its mission statement, Claws With a Cause works to address Oxford’s growing population of stray cats. Several members said the largest contributors to this issue are pet owners.

“That overpopulation comes from cats who are being dumped, they’re outdoor cats that were never fixed and then they’re reproducing,” Huffman said. “ Then those kittens grow up, and it’s just the same cycle over and over again.”

In addition to rescuing cats they find around campus, volunteering and fundraising are ways for them to take care of the animals while making sure people understand the risks and responsibilities of owning a pet.

Their volunteer work is carried out through partnerships with local animal shelters. Claws With a Cause is currently partnered with The Oxford Catty Shack and Animal Adoption Foundation.

Huffman said the CattyShack primarily helps to take in cats that members report, but some members also help transport cats from spay and neuter clinics to their kennels. At the Animal Adoption Foundation, members help socialize cats to prepare them for adoption.

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“Going to shelter visits and socializing the cats keeps me sane through exams and the stress of general college life and people and drama and whatnot,” Krenz said. “When you go to the shelters, it all kind of drowns it out for me, and being able to do something good for those unadopted animals and also have it benefit me just as much is really cool.”

In addition to volunteering, Claws With a Cause also sets up fundraising events to contribute to the shelters and support their club. The organization has primarily planned bake sales around campus and selling concessions at different sporting events. During their last meeting, the members made posters for their upcoming bake sale on March 9.

“It’s really nice being able to have all those posters for that and [for] people just standing out there screaming, it's really fun,” Krenz said. “Even if we don’t end up selling that much, I’ll have fun regardless.”

Photo by provided by Haylee Huffman | The Miami Student
Claws With a Cause creates posters to bring attention to their organization.

Huffman said activities like making these posters are a key part of the effort to revitalize Claws With a Cause because they boost engagement between members. She said cultivating that sense of community has been one of the biggest challenges for the group.

“I also think it’s hard to get people involved because this is a service club,” she said. “A lot of people want to do things for their own personal lens and so just trying to get people to be involved, to volunteer and fundraise on their own time has definitely been a big thing.”

However, a lot of new members are just now getting the chance to engage with the organization. Brooke Dolfi, a sophomore psychology and social justice major, said she has enjoyed even the little time she’s spent with it.

“I really like the inclusivity and the ability to, no matter your level of experience, help out, and the different options,” Dolfi said. “Whether you’re helping with a drive, helping to fundraise, going to the shelter, running back and forth cats – it was all encompassing of, ‘You can do pretty much anything.’”

At the moment, Claws With a Cause is working to maintain engagement, but Huffman said there has been discussion about reinstating their foster program.

bowsers2@miamioh.edu