WASHINGTON — It takes a certain kind of animal lover to adopt a cat and not want to cuddle with it on the couch.
Loudoun County Animal Services is looking for people and businesses to provide homes for more than three dozen outdoor cats.
“We have an individual who is 83 years old, and in deteriorating health, and has 40 cats on her property,” said Animal Services Director Nina Stively. “We are faced with the difficult challenge of figuring out what to do with 40 cats, who have never been indoors, or really handled by people.”
The cats don’t seek out human interaction, Stively said.
“They would be very happy in a place they can be mousing, and hunting vermin in your barn, or workshop,” she said. “But they wouldn’t be your typical lap cats — they don’t want to snuggle up and watch TV with you.”
The home doesn’t have to be lavish, Stively said. A doghouse or shed with a small hole in it would work well, as long as the dog has access to fresh water and dry food.
While barn cats may not provide companionship, “the nice thing about a barn cat is there’s no litter box to clean,” Stively joked.
In addition to rural living in barns, Stively said, the cats would do well in an urban data center, factory or warehouse.
Because the cats have never been indoors, the hope is to have people willing to adopt the animals before they are retrieved from the farm. “What we’re looking to do is find homes for these cats before we go and remove them from the property,” Stively said.
Before they are adopted, the cats will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, tested for contagious diseases, and treated for fleas and ticks, Stively said. Volunteers will help adopters set up a crate or small space before the animals are released.
In the past year, Stively said, they were able to find homes for 91 percent of the shelter’s cats.
“It’s going to be very, very difficult for us to find placement for these cats without a huge amount of community support,” she said.
