Cat shelters are to felines what hospitals are to humans: good to have, bad to need.
That is why the Barrie chapter of Furry Friends would like you to help their cats not to have to need the shelter.
Just to open the door of the no-kill facility on Hart Drive involves visitors taking great care; as cats are, well, curious animals, they are apt to escape if the front door is left open too long. And that’s a shame, as the knowledgeable staff takes such great care of them… as many as 200 animals at any one time.
Several cats still manage to stand out: there’s a five-year-old black cat named Kensington with what shelter representative Venena Kompp calls “a 360-degree disposition. He can be sweet and a terror” by turns, and may need special care for someone wishing to adopt.
Pounce, one of the many friendly felines who will be at the Furry Friends event this weekend. Photo by Marian Wilkins for BarrieToday.Your breath will be taken away by Angel, a six-toed number (a “polydactyl mutt”, Kompp calls her), who loves to spin away the day on a treadmill placed in a room she shares with about half a dozen other cats.
There’s a “take-charge” type named Bridget, who “runs the shelter."
"She goes where she wants and tells us what to do,” jokes Kompp.
A cat named Flash. Photo by Marian Wilkins for BarrieToday. There is a six-year-old part-Siamese named Todd, a big drink of water with white, black and brown trim, who seems fairly calm; also, there’s 10-year-old Flash, the “mother of the place,” to whom all the other cats seem to gravitate and give her baths.
Not least, and not even last, is 10-year-old Oscar, who dwells in the shelter’s back room, but also performs regular community service entertaining seniors at Roberta Place on Essa Road. Kompp and colleague Sue Cahoon say all the seniors at the home look forward to Oscar’s arrival.
They are all stars of the Furry Friends shelter, but with any luck, any one or more of them could be stars in your home. This Sunday, July 10, the Hart Drive location is holding its “Family Fund Day” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day will feature live entertainment, kids' activities, a barbecue and bake sale and, of course, the opportunity to adopt one of these wonderful animals.
Cahoon points with particular pride to a sign on the wall just inside the front door, which notes that 15 cats were adopted out during the month of May alone.
She also notes that cats need a good home, which is why those desiring to adopt are required to fill out a form to make sure they’re adopting for the right reasons and to make sure those “parents” would be responsible ones.
It’s free to get into this event, though a donation of wet cat food, paper towels, treats, blankets and other items are appreciated.
Cahoon says Furry Friends is now its 22nd year in Barrie, though the current quarters have only been occupied for the last five. No animals (which at times include dogs) are euthanized for any reason, which is why your support is so vital.
The Furry Friends facility is run entirely by volunteers, who, like the animals, may also number in the hundreds, The space is a rented one, whose lease is coming up for renewal. In a month, the shelter may go through $500.00 worth of food, and a similar amount in litter.
If you’d like to take the family out for a good time this weekend – and maybe come home with a new addition – join the gang at Furry Friends, at 25 Hart Drive, unit 15 (just off the Dunlop entrance to Highway 400) this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Find out more about Furry Friends Shelter here.
