One morning in the fall of 2018, Chuck Hawley was driving to work in Salem, Oregon when he spotted something in the middle of the road. Vehicles were just driving right over it, their tires just missing the object. At first, he thought it was a box, but when he got closer, he saw it was a tiny kitten.
Chuck stopped traffic, pulling over and running to the kitten. When he went to pick him up, he realized the kitten was stuck, glued down with some sort of rubber cement. He managed to pull the animal from the asphalt. The tiny gray cat was shivering and wet. He had puncture wounds around his neck where it looked like some kind of string or wire had been tied. The glue was all over his paws and his fur.
Chuck took the kitten to a vet where they removed the glue and checked on the wounds around his neck. Once the animal checked out, he took him home to his wife Mikee, and they decided to adopt the kitten. They aptly named him Sticky.
Chuck posted the story of Sticky on a community group on Facebook, and it went viral. People from all over the world were moved by Sticky’s situation and Chuck coming in to rescue him.
“I posted it because I was so shocked and horrified that someone could do something like that to a kitten,” Chuck says. “But people didn’t take it that way. They saw it as an act of kindness, as a story about hope.”
The outpouring of messages inspired the Hawley family to start the Sticky the Kitty Foundation. The grass-roots organization is dedicated to helping animals and their humans learn that even the simplest acts of kindness can spread hope and joy throughout the world. They do this through education, donation, and assistance for animals and people in need.
Chuck has also told Sticky’s story, and many other adventures the cat has taken, in four children’s story books, which are being sold in 22 different countries.
Catalyst came across Sticky and Chuck through their Instagram page. We were inspired to hear about Sticky’s story and wanted to figure out how we could work with them and support the organization. We now donate to the foundation monthly and provide Sticky with Catalyst Litter (him and Chuck are big fans).
“We want everything we do to be positive and helpful,” Chuck says. “Catalyst is the first litter we have found that is eco-friendly, healthy for the cats, and actually works.”
As for Sticky, he’s now almost three years old and enjoys a leisurely life in Silverton, Oregon with his mom, dad, and several cat and dog siblings. He loves it when he can get outside and go on adventures, but he’s mostly deaf due to the ligature that was tied around his neck when he was a kitten. Luckily, his dad and mom have a GPS on his collar, so if he sneaks out of the house for a stroll, they can always find him and bring him back home.
