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Angels for Animals offers discounted adoption fees this month
CANFIELD
For every household in the world, there are 30 cats.
That’s why animal advocacy groups and shelters across the country urge people to do their part to give every cat a home.
June is the perfect month to do that. It’s national Adopt-a-Cat month, and locally, Angels for Animals is offering discounted adoption fees to encourage people to bring home some of the approximately 130 cats at the organization in need of permanent homes.
This month, Angels is taking $25 off the price of adult-cat adoptions. For cats between 1 and 4 years old, the adoption fee this month is $75. For cats 5 year and older, the fee is $25. Additionally, any cat at Angels that is considered a “resident” because it’s been there six months or longer costs $25 to adopt this month.
The initiative is timed to coincide with “kitten season” – the time of year when thousands of kittens are born, adding to an already severe overpopulation problem.
“This large influx of kittens creates an additional dilemma in that the adult cats that have been waiting for homes now have to compete with the overabundance of kittens that need homes,” said Rhonda Kratko, Angels feline manager. “We always need people willing to adopt, and at this time of year, that need increases beyond measure.”
If you find homeless kittens, the best thing to do is wait to see if their mother is around, Kratko said.
“A lot of people see abandoned kittens, and their first instinct is to save them,” she said.
But, she said, it’s crucial that newborn kittens remain with their mother until they reach at least eight weeks. Angels encourages people to call ahead to report abandoned cats/kittens that they plan to drop off. If the animals appear to be injured, however, they urge people to go to an emergency clinic, as Angels does not provide emergency care.
Kratko said the organization is almost always able to accommodate drop-offs.
At any given time, Angels receives between five and 15 cats that are dropped off each day, in addition to about 20 phone-calls per day to schedule drop-offs, Kratko said. Right now, the organization houses 130-plus cats at its shelter, with another 260 in foster homes.
On a monthly basis, Angels aims to adopt out between 80 and 100 cats.
Kratko stressed the importance of people being willing to foster cats.
“The more people who can do that, the more animals we can take in,” she said.
For more information about adopting or fostering, contact Kratko at 330-549-1111, ext. 121.