‘It’s a great time to adopt a cat’
Humane society reports increase in strays
Two of the older cats at Brown County Humane Society watch the volunteers from one of the interior bay windows. The Humane Society has seen a recent surplus of stray kittens. Photo by Clay Schuldt
Brown County Humane Society boardmember and volunteer Jill Tostenrud holds a young kitten who recently returned from a vet visit. Photo by Clay Schuldt
A young kitten named “Gracie” at the Brown County Humane Society rests under a cat tree. Photo by Clay Schuldt
Two kittens return to Brown County Humane Society following a visit to the vet. Photo by Clay Schuldt
Two of the older cats at Brown County Humane Society watch the volunteers from one of the interior bay windows. The Humane Society has seen a recent surplus of stray kittens. Photo by Clay Schuldt
Brown County Humane Society boardmember and volunteer Jill Tostenrud holds a young kitten who recently returned from a vet visit. Photo by Clay Schuldt
A young kitten named “Gracie” at the Brown County Humane Society rests under a cat tree. Photo by Clay Schuldt
Two kittens return to Brown County Humane Society following a visit to the vet. Photo by Clay Schuldt
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NEW ULM – Wednesday afternoon, Brown County Humane Society volunteer Jill Tostenrud returned to the shelter after picking multiple cat carriers full of kittens from the veterinarian in Springfield.
The kittens had been turned over several weeks earlier. Tostenrud recently taken the animals to be spayed and neutered. The Humane Society will take the animals to a vet clinic available to help on a given day. Recently, the Humane Society had been calling on the service of many area vets as there has been a surplus of stray cats in Brown County lately.
"We currently have 43 cats in our shelter," Tostenrud said. "Most of them are kittens."
This is not the highest number of cats the shelter has had at one time. Tostenrud said a few years ago they had 60 cats. But once the shelter exceeds 20 cats, it starts to a strain resources.
In addition, all newly arrived cats must be kept isolated in single cages to protect against illnesses. With so many cats coming in at a time, the shelter is running out of space in the isolation room. Each of the cages are full.
Tostenrud said the surge in cats began about a month ago. People from all across the county began dropping off entire litters of kittens. She said these litters were coming in from Hanska, Sleepy Eye and New Ulm.
Tostenrud said the surplus of cats is not limited to Brown County. She said all of the surrounding animal shelters are reporting the same thing.
"Everyone one has a waiting list to get in, not just us" Tostenrud said.
Dede Barton, Director of Blue Earth Nicollet County Humane Society (BENCHS) in Mankato confirmed the stray cat problem went beyond Brown County.
"Every year around this time this happens," Barton said. "We get an influx of kittens. A lot of litters are turned in or even a pregnant mama cat."
BENCHS has enough space to take in 80 cats, but they are currently beyond this limit. Barton said with the shelter is unable to hold any more cats, some foster families have taken on the extra cats. However, the shelter still has a waiting list of 75 cats.
Volunteers at the Brown County Humane Society and BENCHS agree more people need to spay and neuter their pets.
"We don't need anymore cats right now," Tostenrud said.
Barton said people who are feeding straying cats need to step up and help control the pet population because local Humane Societies cannot do it all on their own. In addition, Humane Societies do not receive federal support. They do depend on public support to operate.
"It takes a village," Barton said.
For those willing to help, the Brown County Humane Society and BENCHS are willing take on extra volunteers.
Brown County Humane Society volunteer and board member Colleen Weber said the best volunteers are those willing to work in any position. Volunteers are needed for cleaning, laundry, administering medicine and even maintenance. Both shelters will also accept cash donations to cover the cost of supplies.
There is another more direct way to help direct Humane Societies: adopt.
"This would be a great time to adopt a cat," Tostenrud said.
Neither the Brown County Humane Society or BENCHS will euthanize animals to make space. The quickest way to make room is adoption.
There are costs associated with adopting from a Humane Society, but Tostenrud said a benefit of going through a shelter is all the animals have had a health screening and are already spayed or neutered.
In addition, because of the cat surplus, Tostenrud said they do have a wide variety of pets to choose from.
Pet adoption applications are available Brown County Humane Society and BENCHS websites in addition to photos of the pets available for adoption.
Visit Brown County Humane Society at https://bchsnu.com/ and BENCH's website https://benchs.org/ for more information.
Barton said until they more space to take in new cats, she is asking the public to have patience and grace with BENCHS.
"When you adopt a cat, you save two lives," Barton said. "You save the cat you adopt and you make space for another cat."
Tostenrud said the best people to adopt a cat are those who respect their lives and sees them as more than property.
"A cat is not just a pet," she said. It is a part of the family."