A new home for a new year

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, December 25, 2010

Niles is one of several cats hoping that the Christmas holidays will give them a home. The Mower County Humane Society is having a sale in hopes of finding cats homes. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Kitties at Mower County Humane Society didn’t have a merry Christmas this year. Instead of nice, warm homes by the fireplace, they’ve been stuck at the Humane Society building, some for years.

There are 117 cats currently housed at MCHS with another 10 cats at area vet clinics, waiting to come in. MCHS is so full it can’t take any more cats.

“We only have so much room,” said Kelly Rush, an MCHS volunteer who’s in charge of cats. “There’s a point where we’re full and we’re going to be full.”

Maude sits on a tub of litter at the Mower County Humane Society. The MCHS has run a sale that it hopes will find more cats homes. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

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This year, 104 cats were adopted out thus far. In 2009, 155 cats were adopted out. That’s nothing compared to the 231 adopted out in 2008. The number of cats coming into MCHS has steadily increased over several years as well.

MCHS has never been so over capacity. In previous years, there have been an abundance of cats but there’s also been a lot of adoptions. For unknown reasons, adoptions this year have been down, not just at MCHS but at Humane Societies across the state. Rush said after speaking with other humane societies in the area, she’d be hard-pressed to think of a humane society currently taking animals.

“We are looking for some good homes,” Rush said. “If people were thinking about it, it’s time to stop thinking about it and move.”

For the time being, until MCHS can adopt out cats, volunteers cannot accept any more cats. This includes cats that are dumped at the city pound, which has a policy of euthanizing animals after about 10 days or so. Since MCHS is a private-run volunteer organization, the current predicament doesn’t fair well for anyone.

“If you’ve got a pound and all you’re doing is euthanizing animals, it doesn’t make the city look good,” Rush said. “We’re doing our fundraising literally to save animals.”

It’s not just cats having problems, either. There’s a surplus of dogs at MCHS and volunteers have seen an increase in abandoned pit bull terriers in the area in recent months.

MCHS is rarely in a position to take owner-surrendered dogs as a result, according to Jay Zimmerman, an MCHS volunteer in charge of dogs. Until recently, there were an abundance of pit bulls at the shelter, but three long time pit bull residents were adopted out this fall.

“We’ve always had a pit bull or two on site,” Zimmerman said. “It really seemed to explode within the past two years.”

While pet owners often adopt pit bull pups, Zimmerman said once pit bulls get a year old or older, they get far bigger than most pet owners like, which means they are given up or, in some cases, abandoned.

With so many animals at MCHS, volunteers are worried about what will happen in the spring, when MCHS usually gets an influx of puppies and kittens, along with pregnant animals about to give birth.

That’s why MCHS is currently running a special on cat adoptions. While it normally costs $75 to adopt a cat, MCHS will adopt out one cat for $50 and two cats for $75. It normally costs about $130 to get cats tested for various feline diseases, heartworm, several shots and spaying or neutering fees, which are all required in order to for a cat to be housed at MCHS. People still need to fill out an application and be able to provide a good home for the cats, as MCHS doesn’t want to adopt out a cat only to have it come back in.

As MCHS is a no-kill shelter, there is no chance any of the animals will be euthanized, either. Rush said aside from the moral impact it would have on the shelter, it would be a waste of the cost MCHS pays to get the cats treated and ready to be adopted as well.

“We’re looking for serious families,” Rush said. “We have some fantastic cats and kittens that are ready to go.”