Cat population surges at St. Hubert’s shelters, including Branchburg center
Meenal Vamburkar & Joey Lewandowski
Published: August 12, 2009
BRANCHBURG — The cat population at St. Hubert’s animal shelters has surged 140 percent since January, and shelter officials are now urging the public to adopt a cat.
Colleen Harrington, the shelter manager at St. Hubert’s North Branch center, said she is not sure what the cause of the surge is, but noticed that kitten-breeding season came later than usual this year.
“I just remember it being mid-May and being worried that we only had a few kittens. And then we thought we were going to get hit hard with it later on,” Harrington said. “Kitten season might have come later because of the weather. You know, it was pretty cool back in April and May.”
St. Hubert’s, which also has a location in Madison, usually experiences increases in the cat population in “kitten season.” The season usually runs from May to September but has never been as big as this year’s. Currently, the Madison shelter has roughly 145 cats and the Branchburg shelter has 110. Only 22 cats from Branchburg are adult cats, which Harrington said is an unusual ratio.
“We’re always really full, but there are definitely more of them this year,” Harrington said.
Employees and volunteers at St. Hubert’s adoption center in Madison Township spent Monday the same way they start every week, relocating the animals and then scrubbing their cages. But not all Mondays are equal.
“When there are that many cats to clean up after, it definitely takes longer,” said Madison shelter manager Cindy Sanchez. “There’s more laundry, more litter pans and bowls to soak. It all definitely adds up.”
