Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

It's been quite a journey for Feral Cat Rescue founder, Sharon Morden, since getting approval to move her operation to a cow pasture in Melancthon.

The new location will be home to between 40 and 45 cats at a time.

Morden's rescue operation was shut down in Shelburne for noncompliance under the town's zoning and property standards bylaw.

She immediately started looking for a new place for the homeless felines.

Morden found a friend in a property owner in Melancthon who had a cow pasture that wasn't being used and who offered the location for her rescue operation.

“Previously the property wasn't being used and was overgrown,” Ms. Morden said.

Setting up shop was a time consuming and expensive endeavour.

“It cost $3,000 to re-zone the cow pasture,” Ms. Morden explained. “It was specifically zoned to house a feral cat rescue. Then we needed building permits.”

Once those permits were acquired, it was a lot of work to set up the site.

Two portable buildings were brought on site and placed next to each other. The plan was to join the two buildings to create one unit for the rescue shelter.

“The first portable arrived in August and the second one in November,” Ms. Morden said, adding “We also needed a septic design and soil samples. They hydro went in two weeks ago so now we have heat.”

The building interior still needs some work with some drywall needing to be completed and a couple of doors added.

Once complete the the plan is for the building to be divided into two areas. One building will be home for the cats – called a sanctuary - the other building will be used to house sick cats and for preparing new cats for entry to the shelter.

There's a surprising amount of feral cats in the area. Morden knows of several colonies that she keeps track of.

Feral cats have the ability to reproduce rapidly and it doesn't take long before there is a large free-running colony.

The Rescue Centre is hosting a ‘Cupcakes for Kitties' fundraiser on Sunday, February 10, with proceeds to go towards the Shelter building project.

They are also looking for volunteers for the ‘clean and cuddle shift' as well as for helping with construction building walls and completing drywall.

If all goes according to plan, Feral Cat Rescue rescue hopes to have the cats in their new home in March.