Diane has always loved cats and she's always done all that she could to help them. What's more, she knows how to use a computer. So there was nothing more natural for her than to create her own website. She tells aniwa how it all started.
It is by no accident that I eagerly devote my time and energy to the cat rescue facilities that I am involved with. My work on behalf of homeless cats is a natural progression of the many strays that I have rescued over the years, the love and compassion I have always felt for cats, and my burning desire to see a change in my lifetime... for all animals.
Diabella Loves Cats began in November of 1997 to aid in the public relations/fundraising work I was doing for The Dog Who Rescues Cats and Kings Highway Cat Rescue, and to educate the public about the horrific state of affairs surrounding strays. The endeavour steadily grew and today there are well over 40 pages, the newest being Diabella's Yellow Pages of Online Shelter & Rescue Facilities which has already helped a few animals find homes. Early on, realizing that the subject of animal rescue could be depressing, the site was balanced with much whimsy, humour and fantasy. A good example of this is The Cat Cafe, a place where fantasy meets reality via a "real" nickelodeon that serves up more than music.
Being creative, one of the things I've always delighted in was making posters and signs for the shelters. When I wasn't doing that, I was creating hand-made greeting cards. Who ever thought I could do these very things on a computer! After surfing through cat sites on the web and seeing lots of cat graphics something went off in my head. I had a strong vision of creating colourful vintage "cat calling cards" with pro-cat/welfare messages. And images that would sell the cat as an endearing, mischievous, yet delightful creature.
"But how was I going to do this with no paper and an electronic paint brush?" I asked my cats. They told me to purchase Paint Shop Pro. This I did. And I read and re-read the book that accompanied the CD for months while travelling to and from work on the subway. In 1999, Diabella's Vintage Cat Graphics was up and running. The images quickly became very popular in the online cat community and I must say that whenever I run into my work on someone's site I smile like a Cheshire cat because in-between the humour I am getting the message across. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that I was able to create all of these images with no paper and an electronic paintbrush. Whether it's with real paper, or on the computer, creating images is fun. Maybe because it takes me back to a childhood filled with paint sets and colouring books. But what is more important is to help the animals and colour their world safe. If just one of these graphics helps just one animal, then I've done something worthwhile.
I found ANIWA while searching for links on cat behaviour for the Links page. It was like finding gold! What a treasure your website is! With your site and a can of Coca Cola I'd want for nothing else.... except maybe another cat.
Here are some examples of the bar Diane creates and gives to the disposal of the people, who create their own website dedicated to the protection of cats. The bars of parts of web sets:
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