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Feral Cat Rescue officially opens, provides for homeless cats




Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

It has taken considerable work and determination, but the Feral Cat Rescue held a grand opening on Saturday, November 29, at its new Melancthon location.

Rescue manager, Sharon Morden and a team of helpers has managed to turn an empty piece of property into a home for feral cats.

The Rescue was created from two school portable buildings that have been attached to create a sanctuary for the cats, as well as provide a separate facility for sick cats, with and another room for preparing new cats for entry to the shelter.

The sanctuary can hold up to around 45 cats at one time. They have a place to live as well as access to an outdoor area.

Some of the feral cats have no interest in interacting with humans. They simply go their own way and hide in one of the many places available in the shelter.

Others are quite friendly and enjoy the attention.

“Today is the grand opening for the Feral Cat Rescue,” Ms. Morden explained. “We have been operating behind the scenes until now, but this is our official opening. After today we will be open every Saturday for open houses from approximately 11:00 a.m until 2:00 p.m. That will be happening so we have a lot of community involvement and participation.”

Visitors can still arrive during the week by appointment, as the staff have regular jobs during the day.

“Right now we have about 45 cats in the sanctuary,” Ms. Morden said. “We had some brought in today from foster homes. We are a safe haven for feral cats. We're the place they go to when they have no where else to go. We're about population control. We educate the public in how to deal with outdoor cats, how to manage them, how to fix them, and if they are sick or they can't keep them we offer a barn cat program.”

The facility was relocated to the current location a year and a-half ago. Previously, Ms. Morden ran the Feral Cat Rescue from a property in Shelburne. 

She noted the team has slowly been adding utilities to the buildings as funds become available.

“We still need water and septic, we just got our heat pumps last week,” Ms. Morden said.

The Feral Cat Rescue is located on the 3rd Line of Melancthon, just north of Shelburne.

Post date: 2019-12-04 16:35:54
Post date GMT: 2019-12-04 21:35:54
Post modified date: 2019-12-04 16:36:03
Post modified date GMT: 2019-12-04 21:36:03
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