Feral Cats Need Homes Too!
Not all cats adopted from the Burbank Animal Shelter are domesticated. Our Barn Cat Program is designed to place unsocialized feral cats who do not like humans into working homes where they can earn their keep as a natural rodent deterrent.
Sadly, the overwhelming majority of feral cats brought to shelters are euthanized because there are not enough working homes for them. The Barn Cat Program works to place as many as possible in working homes like barns, stables, vineyards, warehouses, industrial facilities, and residential yards to give them a second chance at life. Like all the other cats adopted from the Burbank Animal Shelter, Barn Cats are all spayed/neutered and immunized before going to their new homes.
Will Happily Work For Food.
Volunteers deliver the cats and provide Barn Cat adopters with initial supplies and general procedures for introducing the cats to their new environment. For the first few weeks Barn Cats are kept in a kennel so they can grow acquainted with their surroundings and learn that the location is their new home. Adopters are responsible for providing food, water and a shelter for the cats, while the cats patrol the property and take care of mice and other pests.
Cinder keeping an eye out for mice…and anyone coming down the chimney.
These are not housecats. They are feral and are perfectly content to live in their barn/vineyard/working area and will avoid human contact. Although occasionally we hear a story about one of our Barn Cats, like Cinder. After a year and a half she’s learning to trust her humans and is now choosing to cautiously spend time inside the house with them!
A Barn Cat getting acclimated to his new working home.
Our Barn Cat Program has saved more than a dozen cats this year, but the number of feral cats is high, and we are always in need of more working homes. We currently have barn cats “in stock” and ready to go to work! If you have a barn, warehouse, or other suitable location for a Barn Cat (or know someone that does), please consider adopting a Barn Cat! It’s a natural way to control vermin, and you’ll be saving the life of a cat that otherwise would have no chance.
One of a group of Barn Cats placed this year in the Santa Rosa Valley watches from her perch.
Have questions? Email: barncat@thevbas.org
