The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The French novelist François-Anatole Thibault – better known as Anatole France – once wrote that, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”
Judging by the love of all animals she has exhibited throughout her life, and especially during her career as the Township Animal Control Officer, there’s little doubt of the state of the soul of Katie Nordhaus, the Franklin Reporter & Advocate’s 2024 Woman of the Year.
Nordhaus impacts the Eight Villages for the better year-to-year – and is thus more than deserving of this recognition – simply through her actions of rescuing animals, finding homes for abandoned and neglected pets, and just the general concern she shows for animals under her watch.
Nordhaus came to Franklin Animal Control 24 years ago, after having already established herself in similar positions in Middlesex County and, just prior to Franklin, St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center.
And in that more than two decades in Franklin, Nordhaus has solidified her reputation as being a protector of all things furry, scaley, and feathery.
Township Manager Robert Vornlocker has seen Nordhaus’ work first-hand, both in his current position and as a Franklin Township police officer.
“Katie is incredibly deserving of this recognition,” Vornlocker wrote. “She has spent her life protecting and caring for animals that are often neglected, abandoned or injured and she does it not because it is her job, but because it is her calling and passion.”
In her work with the township Animal Shelter, Nordhaus interacts closely with members of Second Chance for Animals, the non-profit group that helps the Shelter meet some of its financial obligations.
Alicia Bottari, the organization’s Secretary, said she could “talk for hours” about the good that Nordhaus has done.
“First and foremost, she has an incredible amount of passion and is a bottomless pit of compassion,” Bottari said.
“She has boundless energy, which is manifested in not only working all day every day, but being on-call most nights of the week,” she said. “That’s going out to houses where there’s fires and she has to deal with the animals, in addition to anything hit by a car; police will have to do a raid on a drug house and she has to get the pit bulls out of there. or having to hold onto animals in cruelty cases,”
“She basically does it 24/7,” Bottari said.
Bottari, who started with the organization when it was founded in 1998, said “there is absolutely no question” that Nordhaus has made an impact on the Animal Shelter.
Nordhaus, she said, “will do everything and anything” for the animals, “which is why she will put cages of kitties and bunnies in the bathroom. Take them home with her; when we do the fireworks, she takes as many as she can.”
Bottari recalled one cat rescue that required Nordhaus to go deep into a sewer.
Every time Nordhaus tried to grab one of the kittens, she said, the animal ran away.
“She had public works shoot water from the opposite end so they’d be carried to her on the wave,” Bottari said. “She was up to her neck in the water, but they couldn’t get away from her.”
“If we didn’t have her in this town, doing what she does, I don’t know what would happen to the animals and the wildlife,” she said. “There’s nothing that she won’t do to save an animal.”
Nora Breen, Second Chance’s Treasurer, said Katie is “100 percent deserving of this honor.”
“I’ve been a volunteer with Second Chance since 1999, before Katie was the Animal Control Officer,” Breen said. “As soon as she walked in the door, things improved.”
“In regards to the community, she’s passionate about what she does,” Breen said. “For someone who has been in that field for 30 years, if not more, you would think that they would burn out or become jaded. But she still has the passion, and it’s all about the animals, which is what animal control officers need to be.”
One of the ways in which Second Chance helps the Animal Shelter is by paying for procedures not covered by the Township. Breen said Nordhaus has earned the organization’s trust in regard to authorizing emergency treatments.
“We’ve just said listen, if there’s an animal you know needs help, and its Three O’Clock in the morning, just go ahead and get that animal help,” Breen said. “We trust her with the animals, we trust her with the funds that we raise.”
Nordhaus is “out there at all times of the day and night rescuing cats, dogs, birds, wildlife, raptors,” she said. “If an animal is in need, and in danger, Katie will be there. She’ll crawl into the sewers, she’ll climb a tree, whatever it is.”
Brooke Crane has been a volunteer with Second Chance for Animals for the past six months. She said that her experience with Nordhaus is that she “goes above and beyond for all the community members, whether our furry friends or actual human friends as well.”
“She’s always working to help people,” Crane said. “She’s called out at random hours of the night to help people with their animals.”
“She really deserves it, she works so hard,” Crane said of the award. “I don’t know a single person in Franklin who works harder.”
Mayor Phil Kramer, himself a supporter of Second Chance through the donation of wedding fees he collects, said Nordhaus is “a walking wonder.”
“Her energy is boundless and her love for animals is unsurpassed,” Kramer said. “We are lucky to have her and there is a place in heaven reserved for her.”
