Tippi Hedren may be at the forefront of exotic feline rescue in the United States, but it was the cause that adopted her. From childhood, Hedren had an affection for animals, or as she calls it “a birth affect.”

“Some of us are born with it, some of us acquire it later in life,” she says, “but it truly enhances your life to have an interest in animals and to discover more about them.”

Her fascination with animals and comfort around them even helped land her the career-defining lead role in “The Birds,” one of Hollywood’s most famous thriller movies of all time. While it was her acting ability that first captured filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s immediate attention, it was her ease in interacting with the film’s other lead characters that proved her merit in the role. “I was never afraid of the birds in the movie. Not once,” she says.

**Get the November 2007 issue of CAT FANCY to read the full article.**