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| Butterball the cat found a new home in time for Thanksgiving. |
A 23-pound cat named Butterball went to a new home for Thanksgiving, The Oregonian reports. Thanks to an increased effort by the Oregon Humane Society (OHS) to find homes for the cats in their care, Butterball and 159 other cats have new homes for the holidays.
An unexpected increase in cat surrenders at the shelter forced staff to suspend all cat admissions until further notice. “We just had a huge number of cats come in from the general public over the last few months,” said David Lytle of the OHS. “That’s what put us in this bind.”
The OHS doubled up on cat cages and relied on foster homes to help deal with the influx of cats. “We never euthanize animals for space reasons,” said Sharon Harmon, OHS executive director.
OHS started a public relations campaign earlier this month to find new homes for more than 100 cats, culminating in an adoption event the weekend before Thanksgiving. The adoption event was a success — 81 cats went to new homes in one day and 160 cats were adopted overall. Shelter employees were delighted that two-thirds of the adopted cats were adults — including Butterball.
Shelter staff will keep in touch with Butterball’s new family to help the cat continue to slim down. For more information on the OHS, visit the shelter’s website.