Pro athlete and fiancée score big for kittens

Sam Junqua is a professional soccer player for Real Salt Lake. But after he hits the locker room showers, he and his fiancée, Emma Besier, are hosting showers of a different kind in their living room: kitten showers (think baby showers — but fuzzier).

“We’ve had some big litters of foster kittens who needed extra socializing,” says Emma. “So we set up a big playpen in the living room, made a food spread, and invited our friends over to snuggle kittens. It’s become a fun social thing for us.”

Among those friends? Sam’s Real Salt Lake teammates — big, burly athletes who often melt the second a kitten climbs into their lap. And the best part? Those kitten showers often lead to adoptions.

“It’s great for people thinking of adopting a cat,” says Sam. “Our friends love to come over and see who we’re fostering.”

Best Friends’ goal is for all shelters nationwide to reach no-kill, and people like Emma and Sam who step up to foster pets, either with Best Friends or any animal shelter or rescue organization, play a vital part in reaching that goal.

Emma and Sam’s foster journey started a few years earlier — in Houston where they were living at the start of the pandemic. In 2020, shelters across the country put out an urgent plea for foster volunteers. Emma and Sam answered that call, taking in a 2-week-old kitten named Mocha who needed to be bottle-fed. Needless to say, they fell in love — and Mocha became their first “foster win.”

[Foster caregivers team up to save orphaned kittens]

From there, the couple dove into helping pets in need like kittens with ringworm (a contagious but treatable fungal infection) and orphaned, newborn kittens who need round-the-clock bottle-feeding. So far, they’ve fostered more than 20 cats — sometimes multiple litters at once.

For Emma and Sam, fostering isn’t just a way to help — it’s welcome company around the house. “I work from home, and Sam gets home in the early afternoons from practice. He’s usually tired when he comes home, and the cats are happy to nap on him while he rests. It suits our lifestyle.”

When Sam was traded from Houston to Salt Lake City in 2024 for his soccer career, he and Emma moved to Utah — and soon after, they made their first visit to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab.

They spent the day exploring the red rock canyons, visiting the animal care areas, and of course stopping to snuggle some kittens. That night, they brought a dog back to their hotel for a sleepover — a favorite guest experience at the Sanctuary.

[Saving kittens and raising awareness with social media]

“We’d heard the Sanctuary was big and beautiful, but seeing it with our own eyes — it’s really amazing,” says Emma. “It’s incredible how well all the animals are cared for and how all of their specific needs are met.”

That visit reinforced what they already believed: Every pet deserves a chance — and with the right support, they can thrive. It's a philosophy that continues to guide them as foster volunteers today.

Today, Emma and Sam are still fostering — and still advocating for homeless pets. They regularly share past and current foster pets on social media, and their kitten showers have become a signature way to get friends involved (and maybe adopt a kitten or two).

For anyone considering volunteering, their message is simple: You don’t have to do it a certain way. You just have to start.

“There are so many different ways to help,” says Sam. “For us, fostering made the biggest impact. But there’s something for every lifestyle. It’s one of the most rewarding things you can do.” 

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.