Community Corner

No Vacancy for Cats at DAWS

DAWS is experiencing an overflow of cats and kittens and is having to turn away cats they would ordinarily take in.

The Danbury Animal Welfare Society is currently on cat overload, and until some of them are adopted out to their forever homes, other needy cats and kittens cannot be admitted into DAWS.  

"We currently have 62 cats on the premises, and more than half of them are kittens under 14 weeks," Foster Program Coordinator Jean Olivier-White said.

They have also placed 20 in foster care, but right now, Olivier-White said, there is a dire need for more foster families.

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"It's horrific when I get calls from volunteers and we cannot take any more cats in," she said. 

Some of the kittens have already had unpleasant experiences. "One kitten, Spirit, came in with his siblings but no mom, and all of his siblings died within hours," Olivier-White said.  

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She said that Spirit was adopted by the mother cat of the group the volunteers call the Harry Potter set (a random name to identify the group). "A woman opened her door and a cat walked in and gave birth to kittens, right on her couch," Olivier-White said. "She kept the kittens as long as she could, but now we have to find them homes."

Olivier-White said there are programs that make adopting cats easy.  Seniors for Seniors is one such program whereby older adults can pay a much reduced adoption rate for an older cat.

There are also two feral kittens who would not make suitable pets but would do well as barn cats. "They could be considered a special project," Olivier-White said. 

Visit DAWS at 147 Grassy Plain Street  Bethel, CT 06801, call (203) 744-3297 or visit the website: Danbury Animal Welfare Societywww.daws.org/


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