Pawsitively Humane, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the rate of homeless pets through education, preventative management, rescue, adoption, caring and compassion.
Based in Miami-Dade County, our work is rooted in a simple belief: lasting change begins with education. Our vision reaches beyond individual rescues—we aim to help lead a countywide movement that addresses the root causes of pet homelessness through education, prevention and community action. By giving people the knowledge and resources to help animals before they reach a crisis, we can prevent suffering, reduce the number of homeless pets and build a more humane Miami-Dade.
Our Story
Where It All Began
Pawsitively Humane began in 2009 with something seemingly simple: feeding a few hungry cats along the Miami River.
Founder Christine Michaels was living in downtown Miami when she began noticing stray and feral cats near the riverfront. She started feeding a few of them, but before long, she was discovering kittens seemingly everywhere. Helping them meant learning quickly — how to rescue frightened kittens, bottle-feed those too young to eat on their own, deworm and care for them, socialize them and ultimately find them safe, loving homes.
But rescuing kittens addressed only part of the problem. More kittens would continue to be born unless the reproductive cycle was stopped. Christine began learning how to trap the adult cats so they could be spayed or neutered and returned to their familiar territory. Just as importantly, she recognized that returning them wasn’t the end of the responsibility. The cats needed continued feeding, monitoring and care.
That philosophy became TNRM — Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage — emphasizing the essential final step of responsibly managing a community cat colony after the cats have been sterilized.
Riverfront Cats: Turning Experience Into Education
As Christine learned, she wanted to help other people learn too. She created Riverfront Cats, a blog chronicling life with Miami’s community cats and sharing what she was discovering about rescue, kitten care, TNRM and humane solutions.
What she didn’t realize at the time was that she was becoming one of the country’s early cat bloggers, part of a growing online movement using personal stories and firsthand experience to educate and advocate for animals. Riverfront Cats went on to gain recognition and receive awards, expanding the reach of a project that had begun with just a few cats beside the Miami River.
Meanwhile as neighbors learned of the local effort, several stepped forward to become regular caretakers to help feed and look after the Riverfront Cats. It really takes a village.
From Riverfront Cats to a Bigger Mission
The cats may have started the journey, but they soon led Christine and now a cat loving neighbor and cat author friend, into the much larger world of animal welfare. Through attending animal-related events, meeting rescuers and advocates, and becoming increasingly involved in South Florida’s animal-welfare community, she encountered crises that extended far beyond community cats. Miami-Dade Animal Services was struggling with severe overcrowding and large numbers of homeless dogs and cats, while other disturbing issues were affecting animals throughout South Florida — including reports of horses being stolen and slaughtered.
It became clear that the problems facing animals were interconnected and much larger than one person, one colony, one neighborhood — or one species.
What had begun as an effort to help cats along the Miami River evolved into a broader mission of education, prevention, rescue, adoption, advocacy, caring and compassion for animals in need. In 2012, Pawsitively Humane, Inc. became an IRS-designated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, formalizing that expanding mission.
Pawsitively Humane would advocate not only for community cats, but for dogs, horses and other animals whose welfare was threatened by homelessness, neglect, cruelty or a lack of public understanding.
Pawsitively Humane Today
Today, Pawsitively Humane, Inc. continues to combine education with action. Our work encompasses the welfare of cats, dogs, horses and other animals in need — through education, prevention, rescue and adoption support, advocacy and helping members of the public understand how they can make a difference.
At the heart of our mission is a lesson learned through years of hands-on animal welfare work: we cannot rescue our way out of pet homelessness. Rescue saves the animal in front of us, but lasting change also requires addressing why animals become homeless in the first place. Education, spay/neuter, responsible pet ownership, preventative management and community involvement are all essential to breaking that cycle.
Pawsitively Humane may have begun with a few cats along the Miami River, but our vision has grown much larger — to create a community where fewer animals become homeless in the first place and where people have the knowledge, resources and compassion to help animals in need.
Our Vision: A More Humane Miami-Dade
Our greatest goal for the future is to help lead a county-wide humane education campaign throughout Miami-Dade — bringing animal-welfare education beyond rescue organizations and into the broader community.
We envision a coordinated public-awareness effort that reaches people where they live, work, learn and gather. Through schools, community events, partnerships, traditional and social media, public service announcements and other outreach, we want to make humane education highly visible and accessible throughout the county.
The campaign would address the issues that contribute directly to animal homelessness and suffering — including spaying and neutering, responsible pet ownership, community cats and TNRM, adoption, preventing abandonment, recognizing animal cruelty and neglect, understanding the local laws, and knowing what to do when an animal is found or needs help.
In a community as diverse as Miami-Dade, effective education must also reach people in the languages they understand. Our vision includes outreach in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole, helping lifesaving information reach communities throughout the county.
Ultimately, our goal is to help create a cultural shift — from continually responding to animal homelessness after it happens to preventing it before it begins.
Our Leadership
Pawsitively Humane is led by a dedicated volunteer Board of Directors who bring their individual experience, talents and commitment to advancing our mission and creating a more humane community for animals.
Christine Michaels
Founder & President
Born and raised on Florida’s Space Coast near Cocoa Beach, Christine Michaels moved to Miami in 1997, where she earned an MBA in marketing before transitioning from corporate America to entrepreneurship.
A longtime animal advocate, Christine founded Pawsitively Humane and gained national recognition as a pioneer cat blogger through her work educating the public about community cats, rescue, and TNRM. Her passion for animal welfare has grown into a broader mission to promote responsible pet guardianship, humane education, and meaningful change for animals throughout Miami-Dade County.
Christine is also a seasoned local historian and entrepreneur who founded and operated Art Deco Tours and Little Havana Tours for 16 years. Her commitment to community impact earned her a nomination for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Badass Woman of the Year. Today, she continues her work in culture, education, and advocacy as co-founder of Indigenous Whispers and owner of Little Havana Shop.
Sabrina Vega
Vice President
Born and raised in Chicago, Sabrina Vega moved to Miami in 2000. She didn’t grow up with cats, but that changed when a former boyfriend adopted one. She quickly fell in love with cats and adopted her own just a year later.
After moving to downtown Miami, Sabrina found herself living in the same building as Pawsitively Humane founder Christine Michaels. When she noticed Christine caring for the neighborhood’s community cats, she asked how she could help. What began with feeding soon grew into fostering and hands-on rescue work.
When Sabrina later moved to another Miami neighborhood, she discovered yet another population of community cats in need. She became heavily involved in Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage (TNRM), fostering, and helping cats find homes, including coordinating transport to areas of the country where shelters and rescue organizations have greater capacity for adoptable cats.
Deb Barnes
Secretary
Deborah Barnes is an award-winning author, blogger, and longtime cat advocate. She is the author of Makin’ Biscuits – Weird Cat Habits and the Even Weirder Habits of the Humans Who Love Them, Purr Prints of the Heart, and The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey. Makin’ Biscuits received the Cat Writers’ Association (CWA) President’s Award, and Deborah previously served as president of the CWA. She was also named Friskies Purina’s 2013 Writer of the Year and received the CWA Shojai Mentor Award in 2025.
Deborah is the creator of the award-winning blog Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles and founder of Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, recognized each August 28 as a day to honor beloved pets who have passed. She combines her talents in writing, design, and advocacy with her role as Secretary of Pawsitively Humane, Inc.
Elizabeth Andrade
Treasurer
Born and raised in Ecuador, Elizabeth Andrade grew up in a home filled with both cats and dogs. At a time when commercially processed pet food was not readily available, her family prepared homemade meals for their animals—an experience that shaped her lifelong appreciation for thoughtful, attentive pet care.
Elizabeth is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who truly loves her profession. Now in her 50th year of practicing accounting, she brings decades of financial knowledge and experience to her role as Treasurer of Pawsitively Humane, helping provide responsible financial stewardship for the organization.
Outside of her professional work and commitment to Pawsitively Humane, Elizabeth enjoys gardening and spending time with her beloved “grandpets”—both dogs and cats—who make sure animals remain very much a part of her life.