Ken and Cheri Hick.
Ken and Cheri Hick walk the talk.
Like many friends of the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine, they love animals and have several at home. But they also maintain a horse sanctuary in Redmond, Oregon, and work tirelessly for Oregon animal rescue organizations.
Cheri has been involved in animal rescue, at some level, all her life. “Growing up, every animal that needed a home would pass out our address and they’d all come to our house,” she says. “Then when you meet your soul mate, and he is of like mind, neither of you can say ‘No’. We’ve pretty much always done animal rescue.” With her event organizing skills, Cheri is well-known around Portland for chairing successful fundraising galas for non-profit groups like Wildcat Haven, the Feral Cat Coalition, OMSI, and OHSU.
Ken currently serves on the Board of the Cat Adoption Team, the Progressive Animal Rescue, and the Wild Cat Haven Foundation. With a background in investment, finance, and marketing, Dr. Hick brings invaluable skills to the animal welfare community. “If you want to be sustainable, you need to have a business model,” he says. “You have two sources of income, earned income and contributions, and you have to come up with a game plan on how you are going to achieve sustainability with that package. It really helps to have a business background when you are trying to lay out a realistic budget and figure out how to achieve that budget.”
The first organization the Hicks began supporting was the Cat Adoption Team (CAT), a no-kill shelter that houses up to 300 homeless domestic cats while finding them homes. One year, at the annual CAT fundraiser, the Hicks bought a private tour of Wildcat Haven. One trip to see the big cats and they were hooked; now both are involved in helping the organization.
Wildcat Haven provides a safe, lifetime home for captive-born wildcats. Cheri is very involved in their fundraising. “Recently, I have put on two galas,” she says. “We have our Big Cat Bash that is for operating funds, medical care, and food, and so on. Then they needed funds for a larger space, so I put on a whole separate event to raise additional funds.” Obviously that effort was successful because the sanctuary will soon be moving from eight acres to 80 acres.
It’s not hard to see why the Hicks are so passionate about wildcat rescue. Most of the 60+ cats at Wildcat Haven were abused and/or abandoned. “They are domestically born,” says Cheri, “none of them have ever been in the wild. Many are from situations where people have foolishly purchased a baby tiger, thinking ‘how wonderful’; then they grow up and tear up the house, and bad things happen to them after that. We are working to get breeding outlawed but it is a big challenge. It’s a 2 billion dollar business in the U.S.”
Although tigers are endangered, and there are only about 3,000 still living in the wild, there are approximately 5,000 captive-born tigers in the United States. Some live in poor conditions in cages at roadside attractions, some live (and die) at canned-hunt sites, and hundreds are in shelters.
The new location for Wildcat Haven includes buildings that can be adapted for use in educational efforts. “Education is really important so people understand what is going to happen down the road when they adopt a cute, little tiger kitten,” says Cheri.
In addition to all their rescue work, the Hicks are now working to support the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine. Ken is the newest member of the college advisory council and Cheri will serve as the event chair of an annual CVM fundraising gala that is in the early planning stage.
“We want to help in any way we can contribute,” says Ken. He especially wants to inform people about the college’s cutting-edge treatment and research. “The OSU College of Veterinary Teaching Medicine is a best-kept secret,” he says. “Cheri and I have worked together on many, many projects and one area where I think we can help is to connect with people in Portland and get your branding out. We want everybody in the state to know who you are and the incredible job you are doing down here.”
In addition to a big gala, the Hicks are thinking about holding special events that could reach niche audiences. “Maybe a more low-key event for the veterinarians in the Portland area to get them more familiar with the college,” says Ken. “Cheri and I can serve as the branding coordinators in Portland so you are no longer the best kept secret . . . We want you to be the worst kept secret.”
