All Paws, All Heart 

as many animals as possible. Co-founder and President Jill Schneeberger says the founding team had already spent years in rescue work. “Our goal was to foster and adopt out as many animals as we could.” 

Exceeding all expectations, the nonprofit has successfully placed over 4,000 animals since its opening. Their focus primarily includes cats, small dogs, seniors, and animals with medical or behavioral challenges. However, following the pandemic, the situation changed dramatically, marked by a rise in surrender requests and a slowdown in adoptions. 

“Within the last four or five years, we’ve received more calls to take animals than to adopt animals,” Jill says. Fostering will always be part of their heart, but they realized the real change happens upstream. 

“We love to foster and adopt, but we know it’s a bandaid,” Jill says. “Preventing births through spay and neuter education and resources is where we can make the biggest impact.” 

The need is staggering, especially when considering the cost. In Edmond, a spay or neuter can run anywhere from $250 to more than $1000 for a cat. Many families simply cannot cover even the low end. All Paws now partners with a mobile spay-and-neuter team twice a month and offers financial assistance to pet owners who want to do right by their animals. 

And the ripple effect goes far beyond population control. National studies continue to show the profound impact companion animals have on human health, especially for older adults. Recent research published by the American Animal Hospital Association found that pairing shelter cats with older adults not only reduced loneliness and depressive symptoms but also lowered blood pressure and improved overall well-being. 

It is the kind of mutual rescue All Paws sees in real time, a soft place for an aging cat to land and a companion for someone who may be navigating isolation. There’s hope on both sides of the equation. 

The urgent need is visible at every clinic. Recently, All Paws helped one woman with a situation that had grown beyond her control. “She started with one female cat,” Jill says. “This year she reached out because mom had kittens, the daughter had kittens, and while mom was nursing the first set, she got pregnant again.” Very quickly, one cat became fifteen cats, and more than half were female. “That’s just one person,” Jill emphasized, “I probably have 100 people on a waiting list.” 

Through it all, the volunteers keep showing up. Board Secretary Jennie Peterson first connected with All Paws in 2020. She began with short volunteer shifts, then moved into fostering. “I think some people worry they don’t have the time or space. I have a very busy life,” Jennie says. “But with fostering, I take two kittens at a time. They stay in our master bath, and it’s just making sure they’re healthy and socialized.” 

All Paws relies entirely on people like Jennie. There is no shelter building, only families willing to open their hearts and a bit of their home. “We can always find a way for people to help,” Jennie says. That includes temporary fosters for vacation relief, long-term fosters, and volunteers who simply come to cuddle cats. 

“It’s a labor of love,” Jill says. “We don’t get paid. Sometimes the hearts get tired.” Then a once-feral kitten purrs for the first time. Or a senior dog finds a quiet home. Or an older adult is matched with a cat that brings comfort and stability. Those moments keep the Edmond nonprofit changing stories on both ends of the leash. 

Learn more about All Paws Rescue on Facebook at allpawsrescueok and online at allpawsrescueok.org.