Emily Skalet is a content creator with a “purrrpose.”
She hopes to help cats at the Animal Care Centers of New York City find their future families.
“I really want to show people in, through the videos, how, like, diverse and dynamic and deserving all of our cats are here,” Skalet said.
She has been volunteering with the ACC for 12 years.
“I cannot imagine a day without an animal,” Skalet said. “And I’m particularly inclined to, to be with animals who are in need.”
Skalet’s love for animals came from her mother. She used to donate linen and toys to shelters and bring unsheltered animals into their Long Island home.
“The house was always very clean, but yeah, we always had a lot going on,” Skalet said.
Skalet started at the ACC by playing with the animals and writing their biographies. The Riverdale resident decided to create social media videos about adoptable pets three years ago, despite having very little production experience.
“It’s a steep learning curve, but I try to improve and I always want to learn more,” she said.
She has since produced more than 2,500 short videos for adoptable cats, dogs and more.
“I feel like her social media has taken off over the past couple of years,” said Katy Hansen, the director of marketing at the Animal Care Centers of New York City. “And, interestingly enough, so has our adoptions of cats. So there’s got to be a correlation.”
“It really helps people understand, like, wow, there’s really great animals at the shelter,” Hansen added.
Skalet volunteers multiple times a week with ACCs across the city. And though her inspiration, her mother, is no longer around, Skalet is glad to be following her example.
“She had such an open heart towards any animal,” Skalet said. “And she was so interested to hear every single animal’s story. She wanted to hear how they were doing in the shelter.”
“She was so proud,” she added.
For giving the city’s shelter animals a new platform to find their “furever” homes, Emily Skalet is our New Yorker of the Week.