As you know, we have been transferring many of our cats and a few kittens to shelters in other parts of Maine. We have been extremely fortunate to have established these working relationships and hope to continue for as long as these wonderful organizations will allow. It takes a lot of coordination and volunteer dedication to ensure our cats are prepared for the transition. It is always difficult to say goodbye to these sweet babies (especially when some of them have been in foster care for weeks or months!) but we feel blessed to know they will find new hope when they reach their destination. We are so deeply happy when we are told of their placement in just days – instead of lingering in a shelter cage or room for weeks or months.

But we know that some of you may wonder why we have been transferring so many of our cats, why not place locally?  Well, the fact is that there are a lot of abandoned cats in our area and not enough adopters that make application to HHPR. In the past, we have had cats stay with us for weeks and even months waiting for a home. Their initial anxiety from being brought to the shelter often turns into a longterm depression that can contribute to their physical health. With cages full and not enough foster homes, we could not take in more cats who were in desperate need of our help. And with limited resources, we were all concerned as to how we could solve this dilemma.

We reached out to our colleagues across the state and many offered their resources to help our cats. From north to south, some wonderful humane groups have provided their assistance and found homes for so many County kitties. The most recent relationship has been with the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland in Westbrook. We can’t say enough about how blessed we feel to have this relationship for our cats.

So, to sum up what transfer means for our cats and HHPR, here’s a breakdown:

1) No overcrowding at HHPR

2) No overcrowding = less chance of upper respiratory disease outbreaks

3) Less cage time for the cat = less stress = better health

4) Quicker adoption time = happy happy happy