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Crawling with kittens photo by Jim Craven Animal Control is overloaded with felines; turns shelter into petting zoo By Bill Varble Oliver and Bryndon Light can�t have pets in the Ashland apartment where they live with their mom, Lea, but this day they�re up to their elbows in kittens. "This one snuggles," says Bryndon, 6, a kitten draped on his neck. "We�re so lucky," says Oliver, age 8. As he strokes the tan fuzzball in his lap, it falls asleep, its four pink pads sticking straight up. Lea Light has brought her sons to Jackson County�s Animal Care and Control Center on South Pacific Highway in Phoenix even though there�s no way they can take home a kitten. In the midst of the summer bumper crop of unwanted kittens, Colleen Macuk, the center�s manager, says if people want to use the place as a petting zoo, that�s fine with her. "We have 30 and 40 kittens a day coming in now," Macuk. "We�re lucky if 20 percent get adopted." Waves of unwanted kittens wash up at the shelter all year, but Macuk says predictable peaks come in spring, mid-summer and early autumn. But this year�s summer peak is bringing the shelter as many cats as its ever had, taxing the shelter�s ability to care and find homes for the animals. While being held and petted may not save a kitten, that�s not the same as saying it doesn�t matter. "It makes their time here so much better," Macuk says. "I don�t know which is more important, adopting them out, or making their time here better." The shelter is likely to take in as many or more cats than it did in 1999, when the total hit 2,991 cats. Thirty-six were claimed by their owners last year; 602 were placed in new homes. The rest � more than 2,000 � were euthanized. The center gets most of its budget from dog license fees, adoption fees, fines and donations. Lea Light is a student at Southern Oregon University and will probably live in her no-pets apartment until she graduates, at least another year. She says she got the idea of bringing the boys to pet the cats from Oliver�s class at Briscoe School, which visited the center on a day trip. That seems to suit Oliver and Bryndon. "Maybe cats itch," Oliver says. "They sure like to be stroked." "I don�t like dogs," Bryndon says. "They drool." Lea says her understanding with the boys is up front: no begging for a kitten. "We talked about it ahead of time," she says. "How important it is for the animals to just have people come in and love them." In a perfect world, people would spay and neuter, and there would be no unwanted kittens or puppies. Macuk has a quick response to those who say they can�t afford to have their pets fixed. "Baloney!" The center has a spay and neuter fund to assist people with a cost and will make financial arrangements with veterinarians. At an open house Saturday, people can find out more about adoption options. Macuk admits there�s a method to her petting-zoo madness. "We hope to match people up with a pet that�s a lifetime commitment," she says. Adopting a kitten costs almost nothing. The fee is $40, but that includes vaccinations, a veterinary checkup and a $30 voucher for spaying and neutering. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA