At NBC’s Clear the Shelters event last Saturday, one kitten found a loving home with a little girl who had herself been recently adopted a few years ago.
Nine-year-old Aricelli Meehan adopted the kitten at an animal shelter in Bonita, where she is attending summer camp nearby.
“I just looked into her eyes and she looked into mine. And then I saw her personality and how good she was, and I knew she was the one,” Aricelli told NBC 7 San Diego while rocking a silver tiara and snowflake face paint. The camp was having a special dress up day on Wednesday, which explains why Aricelli was dressed up as Queen Elsa from Frozen.
Aricelli named her new kitten Emerald, who was only ten weeks old when adopted from NBC's Clear the Shelters event last weekend. When you look into Emerald’s bright green eyes, it’s easy to see why Aricelli picked that name.
“She could have been put to sleep. Makes me sad…Happy that I rescued her,” said Aricelli as she snuggled her fuzzy little friend. “Her personality is sweet, kind, funny, playful and of course, adorable.”
Aricelli knows what it’s like to be looking for a loving family. In her early childhood, she was placed in child protective services. She was ultimately placed into the foster care system at the age of six.
That's where she met her future adoptive mother, Missy Meehan.
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“She had a whole list of other children and she chose me…Makes me happy,” said Aricelli.
When Meehan was asked how she picked Aricelli, it was clearly for many of the same reasons that Aricelli chose her kitten Emerald.
“They said I think you just need to meet her which took maybe three minutes, right, for us to fall in love with each other and know that we were best matches,” said Meehan.
The little girl and her kitten have a lot in common, and a lot of hope for the future.
“I love this kitten…She’s my beautiful kitten,” said Aricelli.
