Humane Society of Northwest Indiana is hosting an adoption event from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, which is themed for the infamous comment made in July 2024 by Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance.
“Cat Ladies of Kamala Cat Adoption Event” is presented by Humane Society of Northwest Indiana with the open house event held at the newly launched Northwest Indiana Kamala Harris-Tim Walz Campaign Headquarters at 1520 Broadway in Gary.
Long known as the Gary Humane Society, and with a history in operation dating back more than a century, the Humane Society of Northwest Indiana is based at 6100 Melton Road in Gary and run with a modest staff of six employees as both part-time and full-time staff. Each year, the location adopts more than 500 cats and dogs to worthy homes and families.
Singer Taylor Swift recently endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris alongside her cat Benjamin Button. (Rick Scuteri/Invision/AP)
Humane Society of Northwest Indiana, which closed for eight years as a pause in operations from 1994 to 2002, was previously located at 6800 E. 7th Ave. in Gary in the building which was the prior home to Lakeshore Humane Society.
Pat Kremer of Lansing, who adopted her orange tabby cat named Lionel from Humane Society of Northwest Indiana, is helping promote Saturday’s adoption event with the help of Carolyn Jacobs of St. John, and the Humane Society of Northwest Indiana staff Tom and Alice Lounges and outreach from Indiana State Senator Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago.
“Our Saturday’s event is open to all and there will be photo ops with cat ears provided and a fun themed backdrop for selfies and plenty of time meet the kitties,” Jacobs said.
“Most of all, we are hoping to find homes for these friendly feline friends in need.”
Local caterer Jean Randolph is providing a free soul-food-themed hot lunch served to all guests featuring a menu of “catfish, mostaccioli, green beans, mashed potatoes and sweet potato pie.”
The new Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign office in Gary opened on Oct. 3.
The “Cat Ladies of Kamala” theme is a reference to the July 2024 media attention for Vance after a 2021 interview with then Fox News host Tucker Carlson surfaced with camera time of then-Senate candidate Vance complaining “the U.S. is being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”
In response to the media attention about the “cat lady” barb from Vance, pop singer Taylor Swift used social media to show her support for Harris and included a photo of herself with her cat Benjamin Button, signing the message as “childless cat lady.”
Swift’s 10-year-old cat Olivia Benson ranks as the third wealthiest pet in the world as ranked by Forbes and 13-year-old Meredith Grey rounds out her feline brood.
Olivia’s net worth of more than $97 million comes from paid residuals for appearing in several of Swift’s music videos, owning its own cat merchandise line and appearing in lucrative advertising campaigns and commercials for brands like Diet Coke, AT&T and Direct TV.
According to the latest October 2024 ranking report from Forbes, 34-year-old Swift’s own net worth is more than $1.6 billion.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org.
