KINGSVILLE — Glowing yellow eyes peer out from a windowsill, a sideways glance and a fuzzy, whiskered face turns toward the sunshine.
Gypsy the cat is sleepy and generally unimpressed with her surroundings. A plate of food, a friend to share her cage with, it is just the life of an Ashtabula County Animal Protective League cat.
But Gypsy and her fine feline friends don’t realize the desperation of their situation, as the APL struggles to adopt 94 cats in two weeks, APL board member Diane Carr said.
“It is the sad truth, but if we don’t get cat adoptions under control, we will begin euthanizing for cage space in two weeks,” she said.
Sluggish cat adoptions and the burden of several large-number intakes have aggravated an already perilous problem, Carr said.
“We have 164 cats in a shelter built for 48. The board has a ceiling of 70 cats in the shelter at any given time. We must bring our cat population down to 70 in two weeks,” she said.
Carr said while euthanasia for space is a last resort for the APL shelter, the recent jump in cat population has pushed volunteers and board members to the limit.
“We are to the wall,” Carr said. “We are in crisis, truly in crisis. But we have held on to these cats for too long. This population problem has gone on too long. The numbers are scary.”
To help the shelter bring the number of cats under control within two weeks, the APL is selling cats for $5 each, which includes spay/neuter surgery and vaccinations. Every adoptable cat and kitten is included in the sale.
“Do I think we will be able to adopt out 94 cats in two weeks? Not likely,” Carr said. “But we feel this is the best way to give these cats the best shot at adoption. All we can do now is pray people come forward and adopt.”
The APL shelter, located at 5970 Green Road, is open 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Friday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The shelter is closed Wednesdays and Sundays.
The APL Mall Adoption Center is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Saturday at the Ashtabula Mall.
For more information on the shelter or a specific animal, call (440) 224-1222. The shelter animals are also listed with pictures at http://ashtabulaapl.petfinder.org.
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