Humane society packed with record number of cats; Facility currently has 149 felines
Published 10:29 am Friday, July 11, 2014
With 149 cats and kittens already and 21 more kittens coming soon, the Mower County Humane Society is filled to the brim.
“I’m not really accepting any other cats right now,” volunteer Kelly Rush said. “We just don’t have room.”
A cat looks for attention from the photographer in this March 2014 file photo at the Mower County Humane Society. — Herald file photo
The increase in cats is a normal phase the humane society goes through every spring and summer, according to Rush. But the number of cats has never been this high, with 170 cats overall being cared for by MCHS.
“We try to keep [the amount of cats] to 100,” Rush said. “We didn’t plan to take in this number.”
Because the summer is usually a slow time for adoptions and more cats typically come in, the population of animals is much higher during the season.
“We usually have a lot of cats that come in during the spring and summer,” Rush said. “People don’t adopt as much [in the summer].”
Twenty-one kittens that were dropped off entered foster care because of the large amount of attention they require.
Eventually all the kittens will enter MCHS, but until then some volunteers, like Rush, chose to house the kittens until they are spayed or neuter ed so they can be adopted.
“I have to feed them every three hours,” Rush said about the kittens. “They’re like newborn babies.”
The kittens will enter the humane society somewhere between mid-July and August, bringing the cat total to about 170 at the shelter.
There is also a high number of dogs at the humane society with 30 dogs and only 26 pens.
