My name is Angelica Gonzalez-Eskel and my passion in life has always been animals, particularly cats. Growing up in my native Chile, South America, I would frequently feed stray cats and bring them home, which did not make my mom very happy. Life led me on a different path, though. I became a teacher of English, got married and raised two beautiful children. After a few years, I went back to school and got my second degree as interpreter/translator in English/Spanish/French. And that is what I have been doing for the last 20 years. But I always had a dream that someday I would find a way to pursue my real passion: work with animals and/or help those who don't have a home to call their own.
I met Bill, my second husband, in Chile 12 years ago. We got married and I relocated to the US in 1998, in the state of New Hampshire. I was having two successful careers as a private tutor and as a free lance interpreter; however, something was still missing and I knew deep in my heart I wanted to work with animals, specifically homeless cats, those who don’t have a family or a place to call their own and die in shelters everyday. I became a volunteer of the Manchester Animal Shelter in Manchester, New Hampshire. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my whole life! Not only did I learn about love, care and compassion but I also learned about abuse, neglect and indifference for the life of an animal. I learned that when somebody is determined to get rid of an animal –no matter how- they will not hesitate to put a couple of cats inside a cardboard box, tape it and dump it by the door at the shelter in a freezing 5-degree winter night. I also met some amazing people there, who taught me a lot: thank you, Journey Ewell, Ed Kramer, Kim Lutes, I will be forever grateful for that.
I volunteered at FMAS for almost five years, I joined the Meds team, I worked with the Special Needs cats -aggressive, feral and others- and, at some point, I decided to go back to college and take courses on Small Animal Care to help those kitties better. Thus, I enrolled in the 1-year program at the University of New Hampshire, got my Pet Grooming Diploma and took some additional courses, which were part of the Associate Degree in Animal Science. I felt, then, that I was ready to make a change in my career and my life.
In the meantime, my husband and I started a big feline family and we are now proudly owned by six great companions, all of them rescues from FMAS!
Finally, tired of the cold, the snow and the ice of the Northeast, we moved to New Mexico in 2008. I decided to "officially" leave my two careers and devote all my energy and TLC to take care of people’s feline companions. That is why my commitment comes from my heart: my six felines mean the world to me and I know how much theirs mean to my clients.
I am well equipped to handle different needs as far as age, size, breed, temperament and personalities. These are some of my qualifications:
- Member of Pet Sitters International
- Red Cross certified in Pet First Aid
- 1st and 2nd Degree Reiki Practitioner
- Grooming Diploma from University of New Hampshire
- Courses on Small Animal Care at UNH
- 5 years of experience at Manchester Animal Shelter, Manchester, NH.
- Licensed, Insured and Bonded.
I am also a member/sponsor of: Best Friends Animal Society, ASPCA, HSUS, Animal Legal Defense Fund and IVIS (International Veterinary Information Service), among others.