Houston animal welfare community mourns founder of Frisky Paws Rescue

Nela Brown, founder of Frisky Paws Rescue, helped place hundreds of animals from Houston's BARC Animal Shelter and Adoption. Brown died Jan. 10, 2016. (Mauricio Zepeda / BARC) Nela Brown, founder of Frisky Paws Rescue, helped place hundreds of animals from Houston's BARC Animal Shelter and Adoption. Brown died Jan. 10, 2016. (Mauricio Zepeda / BARC) Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Houston animal welfare community mourns founder of Frisky Paws Rescue 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Houston has lost one of its most active and respected animal-rescue volunteers, say those who knew her.

Nela Brown, founder of Frisky Paws Rescue, died Sunday after a struggle with breast cancer. She was 66.

"Nela Brown devoted herself daily to doing what most never find the strength or time to do," Dr. Nancy Christensen, of Cat Veterinary Clinic in Houston, said in an email to her clients. "She went to BARC (Animal Shelter and Adoptions) with a purpose - to save pets who would otherwise never find their way out. Her mission focused on the sick or injured ones; she would rescue them, organize medical care for rehabilitation, and find them forever homes."

Christensen, who knew Brown for about eight years, said by phone Thursday that she sent the note to her clients because she wanted people to know what an incredible person Brown was.

"Nela's mission was to pull ones from BARC that are hurt or sick and get them to (the clinic)," the veterinarian said. "We would evaluate them and figure out what medically needed to be done."

Since August 2009, the group founded by Brown has placed about 2,100 cats and dogs in adoptive homes, according to the Frisky Paws Rescue Facebook page.

A BARC spokeswoman said Thursday that, through her work with Frisky Paws, Brown had saved 1,009 cats and 348 dogs from the city shelter.

"We are thankful to have had such a wonderful volunteer and supporter in Nela Brown," spokeswoman Ashtyn Rivet said by email. "Her commitment to animal welfare reflects BARC's vision to improve and enhance the quality of life for the entire community. She will be dearly missed by our entire BARC family."

Tim Hebert, Friends of BARC treasurer who also coordinates a neighborhood animal rescue group, said Thursday that Brown's death is a huge loss for Houston.

"I cannot imagine anyone in Houston that saved more cats from BARC than Nela Brown," said Hebert, who knew her for five or six years. "She rescued dogs too but she was a real angel for the cats at BARC."

Noting that it's not unusual for rescue groups and shelters to be at odds with each other, Hebert said Brown was probably BARC's most respected volunteer.

"She kept the bridge clear and the traffic flowing better than anybody, just because she was such a diplomatic person," he said. "A year from now, the effect of her death will be obvious in the statistic of animals not saved because Nela Brown is not there."

Born Nov. 10, 1949, in Livingston, north of Houston, Brown earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Texas in Austin, where she met and married her husband, Mike. After his death in 2010, she became especially passionate about animal rescue, family members said in her obituary.

Brown earned a law degree in 1977 from the University of Houston Law Center and went on to work in the environmental law division at Shell. When she retired, she was a vice president at Equiva Oil Services, a Shell joint venture.

Survivors include her son, Robert Brown; her father, Joe Thomas; a brother, Claud Thomas, and others.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Heights Funeral Home, 1317 Heights Boulevard.