Punks for Pussies

John Nikolai, a photographer and painter who once taught at MIT and worked at CBGB simultaneously, began rescuing homeless cats in October 2017 because someone was poisoning cats in a rough neighborhood in Downtown L.A. 

Selby (top) was found in 2018 near the building where Nikolai worked. She was eventually adopted by L.A.-based punk musician Mike Livingston

There he met Linda, a homeless woman living in her car with her cat and two dogs, who told him about a nearby auto graveyard where homeless cats were having babies in and under wrecked cars dating back to the 1950s. They began rescuing kittens and finding them homes. Calling it his "mission from God," Nikolai began getting the adults sterilized, getting the sick and injured medical attention, and providing hospice care. 

Several musicians from the original L.A. punk scene became involved, adopting the cats and playing benefit concerts, and the "rescue disorganization," Punks For Pussies was formed. Getting more organized, it became a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity in 2020, under the name of Lifelines For Felines, Inc.