Happy Cats joyful about 500-adoption milestone
 Jonathan Huitt holds Nik, whom he has just adopted. It marked the 500th adoption since Happy Cats Haven opened in 2011.
Courtesy of Happy Cats Haven
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And that's what they've done, one adoption at a time. Last month, the private, nonprofit shelter celebrated the 500th time one of their felines has gone to a permanent home.
The name of the milestone adoptee is Nik, who had been brought in, "shivering and terrified, during one of our horrible cold snaps," said Sara Ferguson, one of the Happy Cats founders. Nik's new owner is Jonathan Huitt.
“It feels great to know we've helped over 500 cats and kittens... and all their happy families too!” Ferguson said in an e-mail. “Along with these adopters, we counsel probably 80 or more people a month on ways to help them keep their cats so they don't have to give them up. We also support our adopters and the general public with classes, training and supplies to enrich their cats' lives and prevent problems.”
A major concern is that “it takes only a single cat generation (about 6 months) for a sweet, unspayed kitten who's abandoned outside to start producing kittens, through no fault of her own," Ferguson continued. "These kittens can add hundreds of cats to our feral cat population in a few short years -- harsh and desperate circumstances for any domestic animal. Not spaying or neutering pet cats is the biggest contributor to needless suffering and early death in our companion cat populations.”
In its leased 1,500-square-foot space, Happy Cats has the capacity for about 30 to 40 cats and kittens. Adopters are welcome.
For more information, call 635-5000 or go to happycatshaven.org.
From a press release
(Posted 4/1/14;
Community:
Charitable)
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