Whiskers believes that a group of dedicated people can make a huge impact on the lives of our feline friends. We believe in giving second chances, providing the care they deserve, and allowing them a chance to recover. Through giving these precious friends the time they deserve, we also grow as human beings. We strive to do our best for every single cat who comes to Whiskers.

Whiskers’ founder, Jessica Vigos, started volunteering in animal shelters in 2012. That summer, she also TNR’d (trap-neuter-return) her first colony of undersocialized cats. This really opened her eyes to truly how many cats in the community & shelters needed help. Learning that cats were the number one euthanized animal in the world was devastating. Jessica became heavily involved in doing TNR work for a large animal welfare organization for the next five years, working in shelters and helping as many cats as possible.

In 2017, while serving as the adoption specialist for another rescue, Jessica was alerted to a cat in desperate need of help. That night, she sat in the dark and waited for this fragile boy. She netted Sweet Rick, who was about 16 years old at the time. He was in horrific condition, but he was already neutered—which meant that at some point, he was somebody’s pet. The night she found him, netting him, she thought for sure gave him a heart attack. Sweet Rick went to the vet the following morning, and their journey began. She learned his caregiver had passed away, and the neighbors knew he was partially blind, partially deaf, and weighed only 4 lbs, yet they did nothing to help him. As she puts it, “Our journey to restore him to good health was beautiful. It was a miracle I was able to spend two years with him. He is a mascot and inspiration for what we do. Sweet Rick changed the trajectory of my life forever.”

Today, Whiskers is a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit organization that strives to end homelessness for pets in Utah. We invite you to explore our programs, get involved, and help us save lives!

Thank you!