Rescued cats available for adoption

Emily was rescued by 4Paws.

The 4Paws Rescue Team Inc. of Merrifield has been carrying out an ambitious project to rescue cats living in substandard conditions in a shelter in rural southeastern Virginia. The Petco Foundation supported this work with a $10,000 grant to 4Paws.

The 4Paws Rescue Team is a non-profit community-based, all volunteer organization that takes in neglected, abandoned, abused, and unwanted cats and kittens in Northern Virginia and surrounding areas within a 150-mile radius. The group is supported by more than 200 volunteers and oversees cat adoptions in seven Petco stores.

The Petco Foundation grant was used to provide veterinary care, including spay/neuter procedures, vaccinations, and other medical treatments necessary to get the 86 cats and kittens it rescued ready for adoption.

When 4Paws became aware of the overcrowded conditions at the shelter, it immediately mobilized a huge effort to save the cats. “Many of these cats were young and had spent their entire lives at the shelter,” says 4Paws Director Barbara Lipson. “Some of the cats were seniors or had health issues and would have had little chance of ever getting adopted from the shelter.”

The rural shelter, 120 miles from here, is a “kill shelter” that terminates animals that aren’t adopted. “The challenge at the rural shelters is their adoption rates are just so low, and so many nice animals never make it out,” says 4Paws Volunteer Coordinator Ellen Greenwood. “This was such a sad case that we just had to help. Rural shelters desperately need partners to pull animals to safety.”

If you’re looking for a feline companion, check out the cats and kittens available on the 4Paws online adoption fair.