Staff Writer
HOULTON — Soft, fluffy and active felines are filling up the rooms at the Houlton Humane Society’s shelter and the numbers are reaching record highs.
Pioneer Times photo/Jennifer Ruth
WRAPPING UP GIFTS — The owners of Town and Country Clothing in Market Square of Houlton have begun this year’s “wrap it up” campaign to raise money for the Houlton Humane Society’s building fund. Shoppers can have their gifts wrapped on site by giving a donation to the cause. Seen here are Humane Society President Cathy Davis, volunteers Holly Henderson and kneeling is Karen Stairs.
Cathy Davis, the society’s president, said the shelter has counted more than 120 cats and has even opened up the doors to the old building to house the overflow. Donations continue to come in, however, much more is needed in order to take care of the animals that live there now.
Stephen Hutchinson, owner of Houlton’s Town and Country Clothing Store in Market Square is doing just that. The “Wrap it Up” promotion is a way for shoppers to give back to the shelter and Hutchinson is encouraging everyone to step up and give to the community’s need.
“I encourage a lot of people this holiday season to have their gifts wrapped and to give a donation to the building fund,” said Hutchinson. “Put it on your Christmas list … give a donation to the animal shelter.”
Hutchinson began the promotion last year as a way to help the shelter raise money for their building fund. Last year he managed to raise $750 for the society.
“This year, our goal is to raise $1,000 for the building fund,” he said. “We do encourage other businesses to put in the effort to help this Christmas season.”
Davis said with the old building “bursting at the seams” and the increase in costs for the animals’ care, the shelter is facing a crisis.
“We have been taking the cats and getting them spayed and neutered as soon as we get them in,” explained Davis.
The humane society insists on making sure each animal is altered before it leaves their care in order to guarantee that their animals will not contribute to the growing pet population. For that reason, they have begun offering adoption specials as a way to re-home as many cats and kittens as they can.
“Becky Day made a large donation so that we could waive the adoption fee for the second animals,” explained Davis.
That does include dogs as well, however, Davis said the shelter is not overrun with dogs at this time. For the most part, she said the shelter is experiencing its highest number of cats and they need to get the population down to where they can manage it.
“If you could see the kittens, it would just make your heart melt,” she said.
Donations can be made at Town and Country in Market Square or by calling 532-2862. Volunteers are also needed for numerous ongoing tasks in and around the shelter.
