PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Burlington County Animal Shelter has an offer for farms and businesses, and it doesn't cost anything to participate.
The facility's barn cat program is meant to meet many kinds of businesses' needs, just as more cats are filling up the shelter instead of doing what they want to do, which is hunt pests.
"I have about 40 to 50 cats that are willing and ready to go into this program," said Burlington County Animal Shelter Director Ericka Haines about the program.
Now in its seventh year, the project connects farms and other businesses with working cats at no cost.
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This year with so many cats and so little time, the shelter is hoping additional businesses will participate and let these creatures do their jobs managing mice and other rodents, whether in a warehouse, farm or shop, indoors or outdoors.
"They're beautiful cats. They really want a chance to get back out there in the community and work for their room and board. Some cats are actually pretty friendly, so if they want one that people can see in the public, [they can get one]. Some are just wanting to shop cats where they just want to come in and do their work, and run away and hide," said Haines.
"If you have cats, they're patrolling your grounds. They are going to take care of the mice and the moles, and a lot of times they will scare off other predators at the same time that are harmful to your crops."
Haines said the plan rewards everyone involved.
"There is such an overwhelming amount of cats in the public that are not altered. It gives us a chance to reduce that population and still do something great that thrives for the cats and the community," Haines said.
"It's a very rewarding program knowing that you saved a life because you were able to put it out onto your property. Unfortunately, a lot of these cats are euthanized, and they're not going to be cats that we can put back into homes because they're not socialized."
All animals adopted out by the shelter are vaccinated and spayed or neutered.
All businesses are inspected by shelter staff to determine their suitability, and the cats are specially selected based on their age, physical condition and behavior.
Click here for more information about the program.
