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outreach programs — especially online — working in partnership with the media and with businesses such as pet-supply superstores take pets where the people are to increase the volume of adoptions. And shelters themselves are changing — after years of listening to people talk about avoiding the gloomy surroundings, progressive organizations are giving their buildings a face-lift to make them light, bright, and inviting. The best shelters have well-trained, caring staffs and a healthy core of volunteers to keep cats socialized and counsel potential adopters about their responsibilities to their new companion.

      Today’s shelter cats are more adoptable than ever before, thanks to programs that evaluate pets and perform basic health services — and some extraordinary ones — before animals are made available to the public. Forget your old ideas about shelters as nothing more than gloomy places for pets to die — bright, clean, airy, and upbeat are the words to describe many shelters today.

      

Making a decision about a shelter cat or kitten can be difficult. You may want to take them all, and the realization that some of these animals aren’t going to find a new home softens even the hardest heart. But you aren’t doing anyone any favors if you let your heart make all the decisions here. Take a friend to help keep you from settling for a poor fit — and make sure that your friend isn’t a bigger mush than you are, or you may both end up with the wrong pet! Play it cool.

      

Be aware of some potential problems with shelter pets. Shelter kittens and cats are stressed, which puts them at higher risk for contracting upper respiratory infections, which are generally treatable but will mean veterinary care from the start, adding to the cost of start-up care.

      

Although most shelter cats — like most cats in general — are shorthaired and of no particular breed, purebred cats do show up in shelters, although not with the frequency of purebred dogs. You may never see a rare breed of cat — such as the Devon Rex or Havana Brown — show up at your local shelter, but if you’re looking for a more common Persian or Siamese, keep shelters in mind. You could get the breed of your dreams at a very reasonable price. (There are also many breed-specific rescue groups, so check out those, too.)

      All shelters are not the same. Some are run by municipal animal-control facilities, some by nonprofit humane organizations — and decent shelters exist in both categories. Good kittens and cats are in any shelter, no matter how run-down the facilities and demoralized the staff. After all, a cat can’t help where he’s dumped. But just as you can improve your odds of buying a healthy, happy kitten by choosing a reputable breeder, you can better the chance of a successful adoption by choosing a progressive shelter, one that visibly cares about the animals, the adopters, and its staff.

      Animal-control shelters

      Municipal animal-control facilities are perhaps the easiest to figure out. Finding homes for pets was not the reason these facilities were founded and is not their primary purpose to this day — although many of them do a good job of it, nonetheless.

      Animal-control departments were formed to protect people from animal-borne menaces — primarily rabies. They remove dead animals and enforce regulations, such as those regarding the licensing of animals — a rabies control measure even cats fall under in some areas — and the number and kind of animals people can keep. They respond to calls about neglected or abused animals, about vicious animals, as well as calls involving animals that disturb a neighborhood because of noise or odor. These departments also serve as a “convenience” to people who no longer want their pets, handling homeless animals through adoption, through killing adoptable animals who can’t find new homes, or, in some locales, through sales to biomedical research. A little research will help you determine which kind of operation you’re dealing with if you’re interested in the details — or in change — but it shouldn’t stop you from saving a life. Pets don’t get to choose where they end up, after all.

      Animal-control shelters have never been well-funded operations, and this situation hasn’t much improved over the years in many areas, although some municipal shelters are able to engage their communities to raise funds and get volunteers. With so much required of them by law and so few resources, readying animals for adoption and counseling prospective adopters isn’t always at the top of the animal-control director’s list of priorities. And yet, because of caring people in many of these departments and in the communities they serve, municipal animal-control shelters can be good places to adopt.

      Private nonprofit shelters

      Private, nonprofit shelters come in all varieties. Some are squalid outfits that serve as little more than a fund-raising gimmick for the people in charge. Others are organizations with well-funded endowments and programs that not only help homeless animals but also work to improve conditions for all animals — and animal lovers — in their communities.

Most shelters fall somewhere in the middle: Their buildings could use some work, their budgets are always tight, and they do the best they can with what they have to provide for the animals in their community. Many good, loving pets are available at these shelters, like the ones in Figure 3-1.

      Photo by Richard D. Schmidt

      FIGURE 3-1: Shelters offer plenty of adoptable animals to choose from — kittens and cats both.

New buildings don’t necessarily a good shelter make, but you certainly want to work with a shelter that clearly cares enough for its charges to make sure they’re kept in areas that are clean and don’t facilitate the spread of disease.

      Shelter work is difficult and stressful, and employees and volunteers can suffer burnout quickly. A well-run shelter is as compassionate to its staff as it is to the animals, because one has a lot to bear on the treatment of the other. Look for a shelter where employees are helpful and knowledgeable and clearly interested in helping the shelter’s animals find responsible new homes.

      The best shelters have a good handle on a cat’s history, health, and temperament before putting her up for adoption. They’ve also done what they can to enhance her chances of success in a new home through socialization and screening for the right home. They not only provide preadoption counseling but also offer behavioral advice after the adoption. Some even offer reduced-cost veterinary services for former shelter animals.

      

Look for ways to help the shelters that don’t measure up. Usually, it’s a question of money and volunteers, and you can do a lot to contribute in these categories. Contact your local shelter to find out how.

      DON’T FORGET THE LOCALS!

      “Humane Society” and “Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals” (SPCA) are generic terms freely used in the United States and Canada by animal organizations that have no connection to one another or to national organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), based in Washington, D.C., or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in New York City. And yet, local shelters are often stymied in their fundraising efforts by people who have “given to the national organization” and consider their charitable efforts complete — even though money given to the HSUS and ASPCA is used to fund their own programs, not those of the local shelters.

      Don’t forget your local animal shelter or rescue groups when giving.

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