Humane Society hosting Cool Cats Adoption Event this week

Major strides have been made in addressing cat overpopulation in Windsor and Essex County in the past decade, but there's still work to be done.

The Windsor/Essex County Humane Society is currently packed with adoptable cats and kittens, and to help encourage people to take a cat or kitten home, they're hosting their biggest cat adoption promotion of the year this week.

From Thursday to Saturday, all cats over six months of age will be free, and all kittens under six months old can be adopted for only $50.

Executive Director Melanie Coulter says as of Tuesday morning they have 372 cats and kittens in their care, despite already adopting out 876 cats and kittens this year, returning 303 to their homes, and transferring 332 to other shelters.

She says it's just the natural cycle of when cats are born and when they're looking for homes.

"Unfortunately that tends to overlap with the time that people are a little more hesitant to adopt because they may be thinking about vacations and putting it off," Coulter continued. "That's why we're looking at a promotion and hopefully clearing some cats out and getting them into some great homes."

Coulter says there are lots of great homes out there for cats, and they're encouraging anyone who has been thinking about a new kitten to consider adoption this week.

"It's during out open hours, so typically our walk-in hours are 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day. We do primarily adoptions online other days, and schedule people coming in, but for these three days it's in-person only. We're going to be encouraging people to be prepared to take home their cat or kitten the same day."

She says people coming down during the promotion can also expect to have to wait a little bit while working through the process.

"The wait is a little bit long, but it's a great deal because you're taking home a cat or kitten that is spayed or neutered, they're microchiped, they're up to date on their vaacines. A lot of them have received a lot more than that, and so it's a great opportunity to bring a kitten home or a cat home," she said.

Online applications will be paused for cats during this time, but will still be available for dogs and small animals.  

Coulter says even at the steeply discounted adoption rates all cat adoptions will come with the usual package - spay/neuter surgery, microchip, age appropriate vaccines, parasite treatment, and support from their behaviour team to help with any issues related to settling in.

- with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides

A cat waits to be adopted at the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)