Ten Lives Club to name new center after Bills’ Tyler Bass

A local cat rescue that received more than $400,000 in donations earlier this year in honor of Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass will name its new addition after him.

Ten Lives Club’s new addition to its main shelter in Hamburg will be called the Tyler Bass Cat Adoption Center, rescue founder Marie Edwards said in a video announcement released last week.

“This new shelter will last for years and years, will be able to help the cats of Western New York and all the cats we take in across the United States,” Edwards said.

Football fans and cat lovers around the world began donating money to the Ten Lives Club earlier this year, after Bass was harassed and threatened online for missing a field goal that would have tied a playoff game of the Bills against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills ended up losing the AFC divisional game 27-24.

People donated to the Ten Lives Club because Bass has previously worked with the rescue through a partnership with Show Your Soft Side, a group that works with athletes and entertainers to end animal abuse.

“I’m really grateful and I just feel honored,” Bass said of the donations made in his honor. “I have two cats myself and I love them to death. It’s hard to put it into words, to be honest with you.”

Bass and his wife, Ryan, visited the main Ten Lives Club shelter last month to meet the cats. They also supported the rescue adoption event at the Key Bank Center.

“We are very happy to have this friendship with Tyler and Ryan and are grateful for their support in our future endeavors,” Ten Lives Club posted on Facebook. “The donations we received in Tyler Bass’ name helped save many more cats in WNY! None of this would have been possible without the support of our donors, cat lovers and soccer fans around the world entire.”

Rescue officials described Bass and his wife as “the most down-to-earth individuals who truly care about making a difference in the lives of TLC’s cats.”

During his visit to the shelter, while petting a gray and white cat, Bass said he was tempted to bring home another feline.

“That’s why you do it here,” Bass said, bending down in a playpen to pet a cat who had just had kittens. “They would shoot these cats.”

Ten Lives founder Marie Edwards started Ten Lives Club in 2001 in her garage. It has since grown into a rescue that helped more than 3,000 cats last year.

The rescue has been taking place since 2014 at its current main shelter at 3741 Lake Shore Road in Hamburg. There are also two satellite adoption sites at Transit Hill Road Plaza in Depew and the Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga. Her cats are also available for adoption at pet stores in Western New York, including Pet Supplies Plus, PetSmart and Petco.