Hometown Life
Observer & Eccentric
October 7, 2007
Page C4
The cat population at the Oakland Pet Adoption Center has reached crisis level.
"I get 30 to 40 cats a day. I don't send them away. I can't do that because the alternative for them is...bleak," said Larry Obrecht, division manager. "We have them stacked on top of each other. I can't go on like that. I need to get them out. We're looking for permanent homes or for people who are willing to foster for three or four weeks."
That's how long renovation, which started Monday, Oct. 1, at the shelter, is expected to take. And it's that scheduled construction, along with an overabundance of homeless cats and kittens, that has caused a space squeeze at the county's pet adoption facility.
"I had them in the lobby and all the way down the hallway. And we have another small room in the back," Obrecht said, describing where he has temporarily housed cats when their numbers top 300 at the center.
But much of that space is now under construction. He's had to move the felines from the lobby and another small overflow room. He figures the center, which is becoming a "no-kill" facility by 2010, lost 100 spaces for cats during the renovation.
"We need serious help with the cats. It's a real crisis almost all the time when I have 300 cats, but it especially is with the consruction going on."
The center has seen a 30 percent increase in stray and unwanted cats this year. Adoption fees have been reduced to $57.50, but parties with special circumstances or those seeking multiple animals may receive additional discounts.
The center opens at 10 a.m. Monday-Friday, closing at 6 p.m., Monday and Friday and at 5 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday. It's located at 1700 Brown Road, just east of Joslyn and north of I-75 in Auburn Hills. Call (248) 391-4100.
