Kristi Butler

Street Paws didn’t begin as a business idea. It began as a promise.

My love for animals started in childhood. I grew up in a modest home where cats and dogs were always part of the family, and my mother taught me early that compassion isn’t optional - it’s a responsibility. When my parents divorced and we lost our home, I started working at 14 to help my mom. I took a job at a stable caring for Clydesdale horses. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that experience shaped the rest of my life.

One moment, though, changed everything.

When I was 17 or 18, I was at the Harris County dump and found a litter of deformed puppies discarded like trash. At that time, there was no animal control, no rescue groups - the only solution for stray dogs was to call the Sheriff to shoot them. I didn’t have money, resources, or knowledge. I only had conviction. I bought a bag of dog food and went back every week until the puppies were gone. That day, I made a vow: one day, I would dedicate my life to helping animals who had no one.

Years later, while working in Atlanta, I encountered stray and injured dogs daily...many of them abused, abandoned, or used for fighting. Over two years, I helped more than 50 dogs find rescue or placement. One Great Dane I found, emaciated and barely alive, stayed with me forever. I couldn’t save them all, but I couldn’t look away either.

Volunteering at my local humane society with my daughter from 2006 to 2012 gave me structure and experience. But my real work had already begun: feeding dogs in parking lots, rescuing strays from wooded areas, helping animals living in what I now call “the in-between world.”

The true catalyst for Street Paws was a 125-pound feral dog named Rio. He lived in a parking lot. The first night he growled at me. I fed him anyway. I fed him every day for 18 months. I stood over him with an umbrella during rainstorms. I protected him. And I promised him I would find a better way to help animals like him, not just one at a time, but systemically.

While caring for Rio, I discovered a feral dog pack near Mt. Zion. For five years, we worked daily to feed, protect, and slowly rescue them. We pulled over 60 puppies from that pack and found them homes. We also lost dogs to traffic and hardship. Ending that cycle required persistence, strategy, and heart.

Then there were the cats. Entire colonies living near businesses and neighborhoods - hundreds over time. That work evolved into organized TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) efforts and feeding stations that dramatically reduced overpopulation. To date, we’ve sterilized more than 537 feral cats, preventing thousands of unwanted litters.

Street Paws officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on December 25, 2012. But in truth, it was born long before the paperwork - in parking lots, under fallen trees, at roadside feeding stations, and in promises made to animals who couldn’t ask for help.

During all of this, I was also fighting my own battle. In 2009, I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and experienced heart failure. My recovery strengthened my resolve. I realized even more deeply that life is fragile — for people and for animals — and that purpose matters.

I started Street Paws because I saw a gap. Shelters are essential, but they often address the symptom, not the source. True change happens at the street level through prevention, spay and neuter, education, and intervention before suffering escalates.

I didn’t wait for someone else to step in.

I became that someone.

Today, Street Paws is still a small 1,500-square-foot shelter, a handful of dedicated volunteers, foster homes, and a big vision. We dream of building a sanctuary where feral dogs and cats can live safely and where clinics, education programs, and community outreach can thrive.

Street Paws began with a promise - to Rio, to Ears, to Buff Kitty, and to every unseen animal trying to survive.

It is my mission.It is my passion.And it is the legacy I am building one life at a time.

Kristi Butler

Founder & President

Street Paws, Inc.