Happy Tails now rescuing cats

By Jessica Coleman

Staff Writer

Jackson County Happy Tails Animal Shelter has exciting news for cat lovers. The shelter has officially added cats to their list of rescued and adoptable pets. 

Happy Tails has taken and adopted out  a few cats before, but not on any kind of regular basis, due to a lack of foster homes. It has been primarily a dog rescue since its beginnings in 2008, pulling death row dogs from the Edna City Pound. 

The Edna Pound doesn’t pick up cats, and Happy Tails agreed recently to begin helping with spaying and neutering ferals, which helps the stray cat population in the long run, but the rescuers wanted to be able to help individual cats as well, especially the ones who are tame enough to live in a home.

Many of the felines come from neighboring shelters, and would be euthanized if someone didn’t step up to take them. Three of the cats in Happy Tails’s care now were rescued at the very last moment from the Wharton Pound. Thomas, Candy, and Fonsy are currently in foster homes awaiting adoption. Finding foster homes has been the biggest barrier for Happy Tails, as adding a cat to a household can be far more difficult than adding a dog. Cats are by nature territorial animals, and taking in a foster kitty can be a tedious process. However, some people are willing to take on that challenge, if it means saving lives.