A local animal rescue program is filled to the whiskers with
cats and urging anyone looking for a feline friend will think of
adopting from them first.
MORGAN HILL
A local animal rescue program is filled to the whiskers with cats and urging anyone looking for a feline friend will think of adopting from them first.
Town Cats, a non-profit program, takes in strays and tries to find homes for the ones deemed “adoptable,” but right now is at capacity.
Ninety cats prowl through several rooms filled with cozy blankets and beds, high, fuzzy towers to climb, and plenty of places to curl up and sleep.
But there aren’t enough homes for the estimated 900 cats and kittens that are homeless in the area each year, and Town Cats encourages people to spay and neuter their cats.
Mirko said the organization does not euthanize cats and that turning over strays to a shelter that does would be a last resort.
Nikole Nichols, another Town Cats director, said she would like to see city officials in Morgan Hill and Gilroy give serious consideration to animal control services.
People are referred to the agency when they call about homeless cats, but there is no more space.
“Town Cats is working to be part of that solution, but is doing so with extremely limited resources and no support from the municipalities,” Nichols said.
There needs to be some cooperation between the cities in the area and rescue shelters, she added.
“I recognize the struggles these city official have,” she said. “Mainly my point is that animal control in our cities is clearly an issue that needs to e addressed. In doing so, hopefully we can all – city officials and rescue groups – come to some better understanding and solution.”
Volunteers are always welcome, according to director and founder Rosi Mirko.
“We love when the high school students, for example, come in to help as a part of earning their community service hours,” she said. “We need people to come in and scoop, people to come in and cuddle and play. We also always need fosters, families who will keep some of the kittens in their home until they are adopted.”
Mirko said the agency can always use donations of food and cat litter as well as money.
“We go through approximately 500 pounds of litter per week,” she said. “And 10 cases of the big cans of cat food.”
Mirko said they take cats to places such as Petco and PetSmart and other locations every weekend hopefully for adoption, sometimes going as far north as Los Altos.
“It’s always our objective to place them with a family,” she said. “It’s a much better environment for them. Although we give them love and attention here, it’s not the same as being in a home.”
Anyone interested in making a donation, volunteering or adopting a cat can contact the organization at (408) 779-5761, or by e-mail at to******@****ic.com. Or, visit the Web site at www.towncats.org.
An appointment is needed to visit the shelter, Mirko said.
