158 cats adopted from Haven

Photo by Virgina Reeter

PEEK-A-BOO — Tyson Calvin, 4, of Cottonwood checks on his newly adopted kitty at the free cat adoption day at Haven Humane Society last week. Tyson was with his grandmother, Deborah Patrick, looking for a kitty.

There were more smiles, more meows, more cats and more kittens going out the door at one time than anytime in the history of the Haven Humane Society. A grand total of 158 felines of various ages found caring homes last Thursday, said Ray John, chief executive officer for the animal shelter, who was still wearing a grin on his face the next day.

They started trickling into the shelter at 8:30 a.m. to fill out adoption applications on the special free cat day Haven set aside, hoping to secure homes for at least 100 cats and kittens.

“We are overwhelmed at the response as we expected to adopt maybe 100 and that would have been great,” John said. “This is fantastic.”

By 10:15 a.m., the crowd began gathering at the shelter for the 11 a.m. start time.

For the first time since its founding in 1952, Haven offered a free adoption day, said John, who made the decision, noting “Thursday proved it.”

“The publicity this one day received shows the public the need to spay and neuter pets,” he said. “We have received praise for this all-out effort to find homes for so many cats and kittens.”

Adopters came from all over the area including Anderson, Happy Valley, Cottonwood, Redding, Palo Cedro and beyond, John said.

Happy Valley’s Sarah Dalling said she wanted a pair of kittens.

“I think it’s (the free adoption) a cool thing. We were thinking about adopting a cat so this is the perfect opportunity to get two,” she said.

Don Weaver, also of Happy Valley, waited while the two black and white kittens he adopted were weighed in the cat room. Kittens too small to spay or neuter would be fostered until they were ready. Most others were scheduled for surgery and were to be taken home the following day.

Wearing a big smile, Weaver said this was a great day and he was thrilled to have saved the money it would have cost for giving his two new friends a home.

Lelia Nankervis, Redding, said, “This is amazing. It brings to light the need to have cats altered and it’s putting kittens into somebody’s hands.”

The numbers were up to 110 adopted by noon, as John continued calling out the numbers adopters were handed as they filled out applications. He joked a bit in his jam-packed lobby at the same time, with humorous antidotes. Then he thanked everyone in line for being patient.

“We’ve never adopted out so many animals in one day before,” he said. “So we appreciate your understanding.”

One man in the audience chuckled and said somebody should be selling hot dogs to the crowd.

The line out the door didn’t move quite as fast as the one coming in mainly because adoptions needed to be put into the computer system and clinic paperwork was required for those cats that hadn’t been spayed or neutered yet. But in spite of the wait, all adopters appeared satisfied to be taking home one or two feline friends.

As the day ended, the weary Haven staff looked as if they had earned their pay, not just in the labor expended, but also the reward of seeing so many cats and kittens find homes in such a short amount of time.