Midday Sunday, on Presidents’ Day weekend, 2025, anyone driving along I-880 near Oakland, Calif.’s Laney College would have seen a large black plume of smoke dangerously close to the freeway, billowing towards Lake Merritt. An RV fire had erupted on that dry but overcast day, its flames marking the beginning of an unusual reunification story involving at least two organizations, some very dedicated people, and a cat.
Found After Flames
A day or two after the smoke cleared, “a good samaritan,” as Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region volunteer Jessica Shobar recently said, “found a lost kitty in San Leandro…hiding under a car, badly burned, and covered in soot.” Though the kitty’s wounds were substantial—with blackened and singed paws, face, and body—she was alive. And though the distance from the fire was exceptional and the kitty didn’t have a microchip, her luck would later be viewed as extraordinary because the good samaritan and San Leandro’s Animal Control coaxed her into a carrier and took her to a local clinic. This was especially fortunate because if she’d been found in Oakland, she might have been sent to a shelter and never would have landed where the key ingredients for reunification were available.
Recipe for Renewal
The prime ingredient for recovery involved focused care. At the clinic, the kitty—nicknamed Marsha—was medicated and received the first of several surgeries. Sometime later, after the initial emergency treatment had been administered, the clinic transferred Marsha to the East Bay SPCA (EBSPCA), where, according to Jessica, “She was on around-the-clock care while they had to do dressing changes and anesthetize her.” For three more weeks, Marsha received intensive tending until her wounds had healed enough that Jessica could take over as a foster caregiver.
By then, Jessica had been fostering pets for nearly five years. As a longtime volunteer at EBSPCA, she worked from home as a TV producer, which allowed her to focus on a pet’s needs. However, she’d never experienced anything like this. “Every few hours, I had to do medication and treatments.” Marsha’s injuries were so severe that she slept most of the day, though her paws had healed enough that she could get to the kitty litter box and eat on her own.
As Marsha’s condition began to improve, Jessica wondered who she had belonged to before the fire. The household must have been an especially warm one, considering how well socialized Marsha turned out to be. Even with her injuries, the kitty’s gentle but playful spirit showed up. But no one at the EBSPCA had any idea who’d looked after Marsha prior to the fire. Fortunately, this was a mystery Jessica could tackle, especially since she also volunteered for the Restoring Family Links (RFL) program with the local American Red Cross International Services Department.
This important program helps to reunite families who have been separated around the globe due to conflict, forced migration, or other humanitarian crises. Jessica’s work at RFL focused on researching the whereabouts of individuals in the U.S. and overseas. Her love of puzzles and deconstructing mysteries also helped when it came to reconnecting loved ones. The leap wasn’t that enormous when it came to caregivers and their pets, and she realized that Red Cross disaster relief volunteers likely would have shown up after the Presidents’ Day weekend fire to assist displaced residents. There had to be someone in the group of people affected by the fire who was searching for a lost cat.
Jessica asked her Red Cross supervisor, Nikki Rowe, director of Services to the Armed Forces and International Services, whether there was anyone who might know more about those impacted by the fire. It took no time for Nikki to determine the best person to help uncover the mystery. Ginny Ortiz, a senior community disaster program manager at the Red Cross, was the person to call. The step-by-step process of healing and bringing together pet and caregiver couldn’t have been in more capable hands.
“It happened quickly,” Jessica recalled. “Nikki gave me Ginny’s email, who then looked into it the next day and said, ‘Oh yes, here’s a description of the kitty.’ She had found someone who fit the criteria and even had some pictures (from before the fire).” It helped that Marsha had very distinct features. One eye was blue and one was yellow. She also had patterned black and white fur with a stripe on the tail. “It was a 100 percent match. There was no question that this was the kitty.”
But who was the owner? And what was Marsha’s real name? With Jessica and Ginny on the case, there was no question that they’d find Marsha’s original caregiver.
She’s Alive!
When the news of Marsha’s recovery and whereabouts became clear, her owner must have been surprised and deeply moved, especially because Marsha’s brother Clyde, also in the fire, hadn’t made it out. And though it took three months for Marsha’s wounds to heal enough to be ready for a reunion, once the search began, “we found (owner) Stacey,” Jessica recalled, “within 24 hours.”
It took a lot of dedication and a combination of many factors to bring Stacey and Marsha—or Bonnie, her given name—together. When Bonnie healed enough from her injuries to transition back into a permanent home, Stacey was right there, ready to take Bonnie out to play in the grass.
And as Jessica said not long ago, “Bonnie was a really loving cat. But…Stacey must have been a really fantastic cat momma, because she raised a really loving and affectionate, and friendly kitty cat. That speaks a lot to what a wonderful human Stacey is.”
And it speaks a lot to the dedication and care of the many people who brought these two back together.
The picture that helped Jessica, Nikki and Ginny connect Marsha to her owner, Stacey
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