There are a lot of happy kitties out there this week. St. John’s Humane Services successfully found homes for 27 cats during its Meow Madness event last week — nearly one-third of its total feline population.
Centre supervisor Cindy McGrath is jubilant about the numbers.
The Humane Services’ Animal Care and Adoption Centre on Higgins Line found homes for 255 cats throughout all of 2011, so to do that for 27 animals in a couple of days is a huge deal for them, said McGrath.
“We’re extremely pleased with the event. We couldn’t have been happier in the numbers that we adopted out. It’s the first time we’ve held an event like this and we felt it was a huge success,” she said.
The grand total could also creep up a bit over the next week or so. A handful of families were approved for adoption but had not come to pick a cat yet.
The Telegram ran a story last Wednesday, one day before the Meow Madness event, featuring a handful of the shelter’s longest-serving residents.
That article, and subsequent media coverage, generated a lot of buzz.
That translated into a lot of people coming through the shelter’s doors Thursday, Friday and even Saturday, said McGrath.
Unfortunately that didn’t translate into new homes for the animals featured in The Telegram’s article, she added.
“We actually had people come in and say ‘I’m looking for the ones that were in The Telegram,’ but I guess once they got out and started going through the rooms they made other choices,” she said.
“We actually didn’t have a lot of luck with the ones that we were promoting ... Major Tom, Josie, Matty and Precious are still here. Graham did get adopted. We certainly can’t say it wasn’t a success. It was a huge success. But those long-term residents are still here and certainly are still in need of a loving home.”
Major Tom doesn’t get along well with other cats but is loving and affectionate with humans, Josie has been at the centre longer than any other cat and Matty was found so full of matted fur that he had to be completely shaved.
Meow Madness was about clearing up some space in the shelter for the expected spring influx of cats. Every year at this time nursing mother cats and kittens are brought to shelters and space becomes a problem. The cats that are already in the shelters at this time are mostly adults and harder to find homes for. To encourage adoption, the adoption centre offered discounts and deals on adult animals.
The event was so successful, said McGrath, that the adoption centre is planning on holding it again in the fall when the last of the summer kittens are struggling to find homes.
cmaclean@thetelegram.com
Twitter: @TelegramMacLean
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