SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Megan Leach, a Sacramento podcaster also known by her radio name as Megan RAGE, will tell you herself: she is obsessed with Chuck.
She has even made him an intricate part of her career, creating a podcast called "What the Chuck," which she uses to talk about him frequently.
Chuck is her cat: an adorable black, three-legged feline.
In fact, Leach is so obsessed with Chuck, that upon passionately sharing her adoption story with Petco Foundation's Holiday Wishes Grant Campaign, Leach won a $50,000 grant for Sacramento's Front Street Animal Shelter, where she adopted the cat. The shelter is now in the running to win $25,000 more.
"I've never pushed anything more in my life...It's gonna take an army, but I just know Sacramento loves Front Street," Leach said.
Leach adopted Chuck in 2014 while she was working at a radio station. The station was having a poker tournament, but Leach said she didn't really know how to play poker, so she was out pretty early. As she feasted on a lunch at the bar, Animal Planet popped on the TV. That got her thinking about how much she wanted to get a cat. That day she went to the shelter.
"I went down to Front Street. They were getting ready to close…I took a look around their cat-ery and they really had nothing going on," Leach said.
The kind of cat Leach wanted was pretty specific, she said. She wanted a kitten with long, fuzzy hair. The shelter did not have what she was looking for, but did have a short-haired black, three-legged cat named Onyx that had just come in. Whatever apprehensions Leach had were out the window once she saw him for the first time.
"They pulled Onyx out of his cage, and he hobbled across the floor, and I was like, I'm obsessed with him," Leach said. "This is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I don't think I'd ever had experience with a three-legged animal before."
From that day forward, Onyx became Chuck and was brought into Leach's loving home.
"I cannot imagine life without him," Leach said. "I always tell everyone that I could be an actress and cry on cue because all I have to think about is not having Chuck and I will well up with tears."
Leach lost her job in radio during the coronavirus pandemic (and, unfortunately, on her birthday as well). Inspired by Chuck, she decided to start a podcast called "What the Chuck," where she talks pretty much about everything. Leach turned that new storytelling experience into a chance to win some much deserving money for Front Street.
Ryan Hinderman, Front Street Animal Shelter public information coordinator, said the grant money is a huge boon for the shelter.
"Everyone was super excited to hear about the funding," Hinderman said. "It means so much. Animal sheltering is an expense job, especially for all the animals that need medical care and all sorts of other things. $50,000 can save a lot of lives and make a big impact, so we're really excited and very grateful to receive the funding."
Front Street is also up for an additional $25,000, but only if Chuck can get the votes.
"There's a second part of the contest where each of the stories that were picked by Petco...people are able to vote for those stories," Leach said.
The story that wins gets the extra grant money, meaning Front Street could net $75,000 by the end. That money can be used anywhere, for anything they need.
"I've never been this competitive before because I've never been in the running for something, but I just want them to win this money so bad," Leach said. "I know this sounds crazy because it's not really an accomplishment of mine. I didn't really do anything except love my animal that I adopted, but winning that $50,000 is gonna be one of the most memorable experiences of my life."
If you are interested in checking out all of the adoption stories up for the grand prize, you can find them here. To check out Megan and Chuck's story, you can find it here, or text 'CHUCK' to 47177 to get a direct link. Voting ends Wednesday, Dec. 16 at noon.
►Stay in the know! Sign up now for the Daily Blend Newsletter
Watch more:
Sacramento's Fab 40s neighborhood is lit up with holiday decorations on full display
