The kittens weren’t doin’ much sittin’ at OC Animal Care’s Sittin’ with Kittens’ adoption event.
Foster parents introduced their spring-loaded fuzzballs, hoping to pierce hearts and find permanent homes for Bosley, Annabelle, Gage and Gordy as the comical and curious creatures ricocheted off the sides of their pop-up kennels at the shelter in Tustin.
“We have a very robust program,” said Susan Westover, who has fostered about 500 cats and kittens in her 11 years as a volunteer. “But we can’t keep up.”
OC Animal Care took in more than 6,000 cats and kittens last year, said spokesperson Jackie Tran.
She said 4,490 were adopted, returned to their owners or successfully transferred to another agency, and 2,200 of the most vulnerable were placed in foster homes. According to the shelter’s statistics, 1,345 cats and kittens were euthanized.
As kitty mayhem played out at the July 23 event, a pair of Girl Scouts paid close attention to the two dozen or so animals, and learned kitten handling 101 from veteran volunteers. Ariana Alvarez, 10, of La Habra and Paloma Greene, 11, of Orange had observed first-hand the mind-numbing amount of stray cats in their community and resolved to do something.
Five months ago, the friends were seeking ideas for an action-based local project to earn them their Bronze Award — the highest honor for a Junior Girl Scout.
Ariana and Paloma — who soon will begin fifth and sixth grade, respectively — took Paloma’s mother’s advice and strolled a neighborhood in Orange to get a sense of the community’s needs.
“I saw a pack of cats in the bushes,” Ariana said. “They didn’t have food or water and were just wandering around.”
After brainstorming sessions using red, yellow and green color codes to rate each other’s proposals, the two rejected the idea of a pamphlet and settled on creating a website to promote kitten foster programs.
“We wanted something bigger (than a pamphlet) to influence…
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