storybook rescues
an Animal Sanctuary in Cat Spring, TX
The name says it all... Storybook Rescues is a place where all animals can live happily ever after!
StoryBook Rescues is a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of all furry friends! Regardless if SBR is your forever home or just a stepping stone to help find a forever home, we believe all animals belong in a humane environment where they are loved and treated like family. Our mission is to ensure no animal is ever left behind, regardless of age, breed, or care requirements.
Please visit the SBR Facebook page to see our most current furry friends available to rescue and when our next adoption event is scheduled.
Your support saves lives!
Board of Directors
Merrick Stern, Founder
Merrick Stern’s love for animals has been a lifelong passion which has guided her vision for Storybook Rescues, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing animals from abuse and unnecessary euthanasia.
She purchased 45 acres of property in 2000 to fulfill this vision and also be able to share this magical place with people, knowing how being with nature and animals can provide a place of calmness and healing to the human spirit. The name, Storybook Farms, encapsulates her vision of being a place where animals can live happily ever after.
Merrick learned her love of animals from her mother, who also is involved with many rescues. According to her, Merrick as a young girl was always coming home with a dog or cat she had found, and she recalls a time that Merrick actually took a dog after seeing it had been tied up for a week in the sun with no water or food.
Before forming the nonprofit Storybook Rescues, Inc., Merrick had been saving animals using her own resources and through numerous rescue networks, and previously housing two different nonprofits on her property. One rescued miniature horses out of kill pens, and the other was a horse therapy program for children and adults with special needs. It was by helping these nonprofits that her own vision began to materialize, and she decided it was time to launch Storybook Rescues, Inc. Thanks to her vision and big heart, hundreds? thousands? of animals have had a second chance at life and love.
Allison Gebauer, Secretary
Allison lives in Houston with her husband, two children and one rescue cat. She graduated from Lamar University with a bachelor degree in business administration and earned her doctorate of jurisprudence from St. Mary’s University. Allison worked in the oil and gas industry for 12 years before retiring to stay home with her children.
Allison also serves as vice president for her local mom’s club and is a Dec My Room volunteer. When she’s not busy acting as chauffeur and personal assistant to her kids, she enjoys snuggling up with her rescue cat, Mars.
Jana Uribe, Treasurer
Jana Uribe is managing principal of Pollans & Cohen, P.C. and has been an integral part of the firm since 2000. She is responsible for complex accounting, audit, and tax preparation and planning. She holds a bachelor of business administration from Lamar University, and is a member of the AICPA, TSCPA, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and treasurer of several non-profit organizations. She and her husband, Ezequiel, have two children, Ezequiel and Isabella. Her interests include spending time with family and participating in various community activities and organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, Magnolia Cemetery (board member), St. Jude Thaddeus Parish and Spindletop Youth Soccer Association (board member).
Kathy McConnell, Adoption Coordinator
Kathy has worked in rescue for over 20 years and fostered well over 100 animals. Kathy also has extensive experience in fostering special-needs dogs. She is currently caring for her dog with megaesophagus, BAELEE, who she started out fostering and later adopted. She has been caring for BaeLee for seven years.
Kathy moderates and is a group expert for the Upright Canine Brigade a support group on Facebook for animals diagnosed with Mega Esophagus. She is also a moderator for the ME Angels, which is a support group on Facebook that supports owners who have lost their special babies to ME.
Kathy also volunteers with Houston Boxer Rescue and is currently their medical coordinator. She also fosters for HBR.
Kathy has a huge heart and treats every dog that comes into her care as if they were her own. Currently, Kathy is StoryBook Rescues foster and adoption coordinator. We are extremely excited to have Kathy on board!
Our Pawtners
