03:09 PM MST on Sunday, June 6, 2004

By Scott Simonson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Jeffry Scott / Arizona Daily Star The Humane Society of Southern Arizona is experiencing its usual late-spring inundation of cats. In response, the society is offering adoption specials.

Vacancies in the Humane Society's cat adoption room grew scarce on Friday afternoon, with most cages filled by Dino, Daisy, Dixie, Gypsie, Boo and their peers.

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona is facing an overflow of unwanted and abandoned cats and kittens, said spokeswoman Jill Wohlfeil.

Wohlfeil said that late spring and summer bring the highest volume of abandoned animals, more than 80 per day.

"The stray cat room will be full," she said. "Lost cats are less likely to be reclaimed by their owners than dogs."

In response, the society is offering two specials: $50 to adopt a cat older than 4 months; or $80 for two cats 4 months or older. Costs include sterilization and vaccinations.

The adoption fee remains at $95 for kittens. The shelter took in 384 kittens in May - up by more than 130 percent from April - and 214 older cats.

In 2003, about 10 of every 11 abandoned animals from the shelter that were healthy enough to be adopted ended up finding new homes, Wohlfeil said.

Alex Cutrules browsed the adoption room on Friday.

He jotted down a few names on a piece of paper and said he would sleep on it before making his decision.

Cutrules said he was considering adopting two, a strategy that the Humane Society recommends because pairs provide cat companionship that can reduce behavior problems.

"I don't see how anyone coming to the shelter and seeing the felines like this," Cutrules said, "abandoned by their owners, behind bars, wouldn't want to take them home."

"They all deserve one."

For more Arizona news, visit www.azstarnet.com or www.azfamily.com.

© The Arizona Daily Star, 2004