How Star Trek connected people so Archer and Hoshi could find a home

My family wanted a cat. Growing up, I always had cats, and my wife and I missed having a kitty-cat around the house. We used to have a fluffy Himalayan, but we had to give him away when my son was born — having a baby, and a spoiled kitty proved to be too much. 

My daughter has a friend who owns a Russian Blue named Norman. This cat is easy going and always friendly. I’ve met Norman a few times and really enjoyed his company. We decided that a Russian Blue would be best for us, thanks to their laid-back temperament and pleasant disposition. We’d need that sort of cat to fit into our house, where a Shitzu is in charge of security. 

So we went on a hunt to find a Russian Blue cat to adopt, and that proved to be a real challenge living in rural Virginia. I could find Russian Blue cats by the busload to adopt. Still, the shelters would not let us adopt them because we did not live in Greater Washington, D.C., or because of Kringle (head of security).

Picking up Archer and Hoshi: Zach Teicher, the author’s daughter, and Anne Teicher of Neshama Animal Rescue.

One evening, I was looking at PetFinder.com for a cat to adopt, and I stumbled upon a few Russian Blues named after Star Trek characters. “Naw…” I thought. That can’t be right. But the closer I looked, I realized that it was indeed a fact — the group Neshama Animal Rescue posted a bunch of Russian Blues for adoption, named “Hoshi,” “Archer,” “Malcom,” and “Trip.” 

I contacted them and told the folks at Neshama our story. They agreed to let us adopt Hoshi, under the condition that we’d also adopt her brother, Archer. We said, “yes.”

After all the paperwork was signed and we passed a home visit, we met at a location convenient for both of us, since they are headquartered in North Carolina. Afterward, I contacted Anne Teicher, who runs Neshama (along with Zach and a third member) to ask her why they named their kitties after Star Trek characters.

Tell us about you guys:
Zach and I met in D.C., working for a Jewish political organization, and we are both vegans. Zach is now a project manager for a government contractor. I am a makeup artist recovering from a 15-year career in politics. We moved to North Carolina in 2016 from D.C.  

I’m from Georgia, and Zach is from New York, so this is right in the middle! In 2019, we hired a pet nanny, Kindle, who was attending the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC). She was passionate about rescue, so she loved helping us with fosters. As we grew closer with her, we talked about forming our own rescue, so we did in 2019 after the passing of my 19-year-old Cairn Terrier, Ari.

How did you get involved with rescuing and placing animals?
I have been fostering animals since 2004 when I was in graduate school at Vanderbilt Divinity School. I have always loved animals and have been a vegetarian turned vegan since 1999. My first foster was a fail. My Cairn Terrier, Ari, and he became an integral partner in fostering because of his even demeanor. 

Wherever I would move, I would foster for organizations and have met some incredible humans and animals along the way. When Zach and I married, we made this a mission in our partnership, so there have been very few times in our marriage when we didn’t have a cat or dog foster!

Are you guys “Neshama” meaning, is it basically a two-person operation?
We are Neshama, along with our rescue co-founder, Kindle Mosby. Kindle graduated from UNC this past year, finishing in 3 years, and is passionate about rescue and animals. While the three of us make up the board, we also have 50-plus foster homes who volunteer their time, love, and care, so we cannot do this without their valuable efforts. 

Anne Teicher rocking her Star Trek mask.

Tell me what Neshama means:
I was trying to think of a meaningful name for our rescue — something like “Ahimsa” which is Gandhi’s teaching of non-harming but wanted to instill our Jewish values. I went to my rabbi and asked her what she thought, and we came up with this. Neshama means “Soul.” I wanted the rescue to possess soulfulness, focus on rescuing souls, and connect souls through the work of rescue — both animal and human. 

As in all non-profits, the burnout can be intense, so we wanted to have a name that would pull us back into our work’s intention. 

How is Neshama different? 
We are different in the work we do by connecting to the meaning of our rescue! North Carolina is third in the nation for euthanizing domesticated animals. That is an embarrassing statistic for our state. We need to do better by creating a culture of rescue/adoption, focus on spaying and neutering, and ending breeding and inadequate legislation. 

We are all politically active in our rescue, so we will be focusing on the legislative process in our future. Saving them from kill shelters is a beautiful first step, and will always be our focus, but we have to focus on the root of the problem as well. Education in our state has to be a priority.

You name some of your kitties after Trek characters… 
We have many thematic intakes — we’ve done Beatles/songs (Penny Lane, Paul, Michelle, Rita, Sergeant Pepper, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, etc.), presidents (Woodrow, Franklin, Carter, Jefferson, George, Teddy, etc.), our favorite baseball players (Washington Nationals). 

We add so many to our rescue, and we were watching/re-watching Enterprise and thought we should name them after the crew! Our only problem was how few female characters were on that show, so we’ve had to branch out, so we are now focusing intakes on Voyager names. Also, we figured it would be an excellent way to get fellow Trek fans to see our kitties and want to adopt them — mission accomplished!
 
When was your “first contact” with Star Trek?
When Zach was 10, a friend of his grandmother’s gave him the VHS recordings of all the original movies, and he watched them all summer, and he was hooked! 

Mine was actually a lot more recent… I expect flack for this. I grew up thinking it was Star Wars vs. Star Trek, and I was staunchly in one camp! Two years ago, while we were in Europe, we watched Discovery, and I was hooked — I love Michael. As a theologian/ethicist, I fell in love with Star Trek.
  
Which is your favorite Trek show? 
Zach thinks his favorite is Voyager, since he adores The Doctor, though we are really enjoying Discovery. Mine is Enterprise. 100%. I care so deeply about those characters and now like to watch them while I fall asleep because I find it comforting. I connect to the characters in many ways, but I am so impressed by their bravery and boldness — and, of course, the Vulcan diet (vegan).
 
How long have you been doing this, and about how many animals have you placed? 
We were founded in December 2019, have adopted out around 150 and taken in around 250. Neshama is non-profit, and the help we need the most is donations for vetting and food for the animals in care, but also we need help fostering. If people are in North Carolina, that is helpful. Still, if not, people can think about hosting Facebook fundraisers for their birthday or anniversaries. 

We take in special needs — Mayweather had surgery to remove his broken arm, Daniels had the same operation, B’lanna has a broken tail, we have a new blind kitten, Trip and Malcolm currently have colds! Therefore donations to donate.neshamarescue.org are the most helpful and logical.
 
Are Trek fans better pet owners?
I think Star Trek fans understand the importance of connecting to other species and finding common ground. We are interested in other ways of relating to being who look different than we do and who come from varying perspectives, meaning that Star Trek folks know how to be patient, learn new languages and movements, and be respectful of their backgrounds. 

I think Star Trek captures the very essence of rescue. WWJAD? What would Jonathan Archer do?

Hoshi, making sure this robotic life form is not sentient.

I’d like to share with everyone that since Archer and Hoshi have come to live with us, they’ve become part of the family. They frequently hide from us and pounce out when we walk by, and they enjoy walking on paper and computer keyboards. We bought them a kitty tower, and that is very, very popular. 

Hoshi is a lap cat and loves to have her belly rubbed. Archie is shyer and is the one who lets us know when they need more cat food. That being said, they still have not come to an understanding with our head of security. 

We are so lucky to have these new friends and fortunate to have connected with Anne and Zach. If you’re looking to adopt a pet, please visit their site and know that they will work with any good home on the East Coast.