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In 1996 Catman2 Inc. was born as a “Cat
Exchange” The business card read “Feline Friend and
Broker” The idea was to put out the word that we could find the
cat of your dreams or find your cat a new home. The local shelters were
very small. Most of the space was devoted to dogs and many shelters
kept animals only a few days before they were euthanized. Cats needed
help. Catman2 attempted to link area shelters by phone (Few if
any had internet connections) and then unite cats with people who
wanted them and find new homes for cats that were no longer wanted or
were strays. Catman called each shelter to learn what cats were
available and what types of cats people had requested. Then attempts
were made to set up an exchange. Most shelters had little interest in
the idea and few offered cooperation. When a match was made many times
the person who had requested the cat had, unknown to Catman, already
found another cat and would not accept the one found or the shelter who
had said they would hold the cat for which a home had been found would
have already placed it with someone else or had euthanized it because
its time was up. As a result Catman ended up with the sad task of
informing a person the cat he had found for them was no longer
available or if Catman had picked up a cat, only to learn the person no
longer wanted it, his choice was to return the cat to the
shelter, knowing it might well be euthanized, or keep it in
hopes of finding it another suitable home. In this case the only
option Catman could live with was the latter. This led to the need of a
solution and Catman2 Inc.: cats only, no kill, non profit, licensed
shelter, sanctuary, and adoption center was born.
The original shelter was operated from a converted storage shed
at Catman’s home. It could house about ten cats. Later the shed
was enlarged to hold ten more. In time a small building was constructed
to shelter twenty additional animals. Still later, another building was
converted and the population was able to reach as high as 60.
During this time innovative means of adoption were formulated:
stories were submitted to local news papers, a plastering of posters in
store windows and other venues informed the public cats were available,
a web page was started, we hooked up with the world wide web with the
help of Petfinder.com , and cats were transported to other
locations,
craft shows and street fairs, etc. where they could be seen and
adopted. In the eight years since the first cat was brokered more than
1500 cats have been rescued and have found new homes.
In the spring of 2001 plans were conceived to build a new
ultra modern shelter. Cats moved into the new facility late in 2003
and, although the total complex has not been completed they are
enjoying their new home. Rescues and adoptions are being made.
Plans are underway for a Grand Opening. Watch this page.
For more shelter infogo to: New Shelter Info
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