In February, Remy Simpson, founder and president of Lexington-based Paws 4 the Cause, a volunteer-driven, no-kill animal rescue nonprofit, received the Unsung Hero Award from the Humane Society of the United States. A month earlier, he was honored with the Lexington Unsung Hero Award from CivicLex. Paws 4 the Cause also recently received attention — and a significant donation — when Kentucky-based priest Jim Sichko contributed a portion of funds raised by auctioning two bottles of Kentucky bourbon signed by Pope Francis and one signed by former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady. Simpson has loved animals since childhood. Growing up in Lexington, he took in and cared for countless stray cats and dogs, many malnourished and in poor condition. When he couldn’t find their owners, he worked to rehome them. Encouraged by friends, he founded Paws 4 the Cause in 2008 and purchased a warehouse along Newtown Pike, which serves as the organization’s headquarters. Focused on Central Kentucky, Paws 4 the Cause has rescued many thousands of dogs and cats, along with pet pigs, ducks, and even wildlife when needed.
What are the primary needs that Paws 4 the Cause addresses?
We address several critical issues, including animal abuse, overpopulation, homelessness, feeding, and veterinary care. Many people surrender pets because they can’t afford medical costs. We do our best to address all of these as best we can, but the most pressing issue is spaying and neutering — if overpopulation weren’t a problem, many of these other challenges wouldn’t exist.
How is Paws 4 the Cause funded?
We’re entirely volunteer-run and rely on donations. For the first several years, I funded it myself, but eventually that well ran dry and I started looking to the public to help. Fortunately, the community stepped up, and it made me realize that the community feels a real need for this. Today, we’re fully supported through donations. Our annual budget is about $250,000, with roughly $10,000 a month dedicated to spaying and neutering. We also cover emergency medical cases, food for rescued animals, and support for pet owners in financial distress. We also have some administrative costs. About ten years ago, Anita Spreitzer joined us. We’ve worked very well together, and she understands the importance of organization, fundraising, and getting things done. She’s now our VP and general manager.
What were the early days of Paws like?
There was a lot to be done. I did a lot of networking with other rescue organizations and a lot of transportation. We would visit high-kill shelters in Kentucky, where animals were euthanized weekly, and take as many as possible to safer locations. I'd go in and gather as many as I could, get them taken care of as best as I could, and then drive them north to places like Ohio, Michigan, and even Canada, where they were actually low on animals because they had better spaying and neutering awareness. At the time, Kentucky ranked last in animal welfare. We’ve since improved slightly, moving up to 46th in 2024 [according to an Animal Legal Defense ranking], but there’s still a long way to go.
How does your intake process work?
We take in about 1,000 animals a year that we find homes for directly, and another 2,000 to 3,000 that we transport to other rescue organizations. Every incoming animal gets a full veterinary check-up. Cats are tested for feline leukemia, dogs for heartworm, and all receive rabies and parvovirus vaccinations — parvovirus is a big problem in Kentucky. We do everything we can to make sure the animal is in tip-top shape. We try to foster them right away with our growing network of carefully screened foster homes. We have about 50 dogs in our program at any given time, and about 40 or so cats. We’ll do some research and interviews to match animals with homes — Anita is a good matchmaker. We also recently partnered with Feeder Supply to place adoptable cats in their stores.
What’s next for Paws 4 the Cause?
We’re working to hire an in-house veterinarian to operate out of our building. We have a surgery room ready to go, and we plan to launch a spay/neuter clinic by summer — the first of its kind in this area. We also want to involve the community more in what we do. To that end, we're establishing a community section within our building where seniors and people with disabilities can help care for and interact with our gentler animals.