This Knicks Champ Is Helping Cats After Winning the Playoffs.

On June 10, OG Anunoby tipped in a missed shot with 1.2 seconds left on the clock to complete a 29-point comeback and give the New York Knicks a 107-106 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, then scored 17 points in the clinching victory that ended the franchise's 53-year championship drought. By the following week he had shifted his focus from the Finals to felines. Anunoby, a cat lover, partnered with Royal Canin, VCA Animal Hospitals, and Animal Care Centers of NYC to launch a campaign called OG's Starting Five, personally visiting the city's largest shelter system and hand-selecting five cats available for adoption. He named them Penne, Sammy, Roxie, Damu, and Lil Leo, and announced that each adopted cat would receive a year's supply of food from Royal Canin and a year of free veterinary exams from VCA, with Royal Canin separately donating $300,000 to shelters nationwide in honor of the campaign.

The response was immediate. Three of the five cats were adopted within days of the campaign launching, including Damu, an 11-year-old tuxedo cat with some medical issues who shelter staff said would have been a much harder adoption without Anunoby's involvement. Katy Hansen, director of communications for the Animal Care Centers of NYC, said the partnership was making it possible for cats like Damu to find homes they might never otherwise have found, and noted that many people who came in specifically to meet one of the Starting Five left having adopted a completely different cat, multiplying the campaign's impact. Hansen said that having athletes who so many people respect talking about adoption gets other people talking about adoption, especially young kids, and that shelters across the country are at crisis level, which is why every voice matters. Sammy and Roxie remain available at Animal Care Centers of NYC for anyone ready to give the Knicks a permanent connection to their championship run in a way that also happens to come with fur.

Source:https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/new-york-knicks-og-anunoby-cats-shelter-b2999622.html