Lauren trailed behind her, then went through a set of steel doors. The animals were all lined up on either side of the walls in cages, which broke her heart, but the cages were huge, and most of the dogs were together. Some lay side by side, others jumped up on their hind legs, paws on the mesh, as though they were saying, “Pick me, pick me.” Tears filled her eyes. She wanted all the animals. Dogs, cats, birds. They all tugged at her heartstrings, but again, she knew she had to be reasonable.
“We’ve got a momma cat, she just had two kitties, and they’re as sweet as sugar.” The young girl took her to an area away from the rest of the animals. Inside another fenced-in area was a big fluffy tabby cat and two tiny matches snuggled against their mother. “They need a home.”
“No way am I taking kittens from their mother, or vice versa.”
“Of course not. We don’t allow that here, anyway. However, we do allow one to adopt these little felines, but only as a family.”
“Oh,” was all Lauren could say.
Rooted to the floor, she stooped and stuck two fingers through the mesh. The mother cat meowed, then edged herself and her babies up to the mesh. Momma cat rubbed her nose against Lauren’s fingers, giving off a soft meow. “I can take all three?” she asked, but her mind had already been made up the second Momma cat rubbed her soft little nose against her fingers.
“That would be awesome, but we ask that you keep them together. It’s one of our conditions.”
“I’ll promise you they’ll stay together.” Lauren quickly signed the required adoption papers and agreed to allow Dr. Melloh, a veterinarian who volunteered his services at the shelter, to come to her house and inspect it. While she didn’t know they’d go to such an extreme, she was glad they did. Sending an animal into a new home was a very big deal. Of course, it should be investigated.
“Dr. Melloh will be there tomorrow, but I’ll have to call you with an exact time, if that’s okay?” the young girl asked while Lauren signed the papers and stacked them into a neat pile. “We’ve named the kittens, but, of course, you’re free to change the names if you want.”
“What are you calling them?” Lauren asked.
“Momma is Daisy, the female is Evie, and the male, well, since it’s Christmas time, we called him Yule.”
Lauren burst out laughing. “I love it! Would Evie, Eve, refer to Christmas Eve?”
“You’re a quick study. Though Daisy was named by her original owner. She’s four. Sadly, she lost her mom right before she had the kittens. She was brought here by a neighbor who’d wanted to keep her but couldn’t because of an allergy. So she’s been queen of the house, and we hope these two little buggers will be a prince and princess.”
Lauren’s heart filled with instant love for her new furry family. She’d make sure they were treated like royalty. Now all she had to do was let her mom and dad in on her decision. “Oh, they’re gonna be well loved and cared for. I can promise that.”
“I can see that. Now, as soon as Dr. Melloh makes his house call, we’ll contact you, and if all goes well, and I’m sure it will, you can take these little kitties to their new home. We have a few basic supplies we can give you, but if you’re able to purchase beds, litter boxes, bowls, we’d appreciate it. We are in constant need of supplies so the animals that stay with us have what they need until we find them a forever home.”
“I’ll purchase whatever they need. Keep your supplies, please.”
“Thanks, we appreciate it since they’re getting more and more expensive, and lots of people want animals but forget that they need their own beds, bowls, things of that nature.”
“Exactly how many dogs and cats can you house here?” Lauren asked, another brilliant idea forming.
“We keep as many as fifty, and as few as five. Though as long as I’ve been here, we’ve always had at least thirty, both dogs and cats. We do get a few wild animals, but we do what we can, then try to return them to their natural habitat, if at all possible. It’s a lot of work, but all of us volunteers love it.”
“So you just volunteer here?” Lauren asked, more impressed than ever.