A ray of light for the cats at CLAWS

AUGUSTA — The County Board of Healthy and the NJSPCA recently informed CLAWS Animal Shelter that they had run out of time and would have to close their doors by April 15. With 180 cats on the premises, CLAWS founder Laurie Walsh and volunteers have been scrambling to find homes for the felines. Ten cats were adopted, leaving 170. On Monday, April 2, North Shore Animal League of America, the largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization, came to the shelter. “They have never been to Sussex County before — it’s awesome,” said Walsh. North Shore took 22 of the CLAWS cats. New beginning for some Any cats still in the shelter after the April 15 deadline will be euthanized. North Shore heard about the situation through Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. “Best Friends from Utah put an emergency email out to all surrounding animal shelters and North Shore responded,” said Walsh. “(North Shore) checked out our credibility and decided to come out and help.” A 40-foot long mobile unit came to take the cats. This is the same kind of vehicle that is used to rescue animals when a natural disaster occurs. It has the capacity to hold up to 100 animals at a time. The North Shore vehicle arrived at CLAWS around 11 in the morning. “This is just so, so cool,” said Walsh. Once inside, North Shore was given the layout of the shelter and shown the different rooms. Two rooms downstairs are free roaming rooms, which means the cats can walk around freely; the third room is a room with 18 cages in it where there can be as little as one or as many as four cats per cage. Upstairs, both rooms are free roaming rooms. “Everyone is scared and has been through a lot of stress,” explained Walsh. “None of them are violent or feral though. If they lash out it is just because there are strangers in their home and they are frightened.” Among the cats that were rescued, four of them were AIDS positive. “They are extremely healthy and loving,” said Walsh. “AIDS cats are adopted all the time. It doesn’t have to be a death sentence for them. They deserve a chance just like the rest of the cats do.” The other cats’ ages range from kitten to adult and everything in between. One is named Fracture. She was given this name because she came in with broken bones and still walks with a limp caused by her injuries. “Each of the cats here has a story,” said Walsh. “But hopefully, with the help of other shelters and the community, they can all have a happy ending.” Still more need homes There are still 148 cats waiting to be adopted or fostered. CLAWS is open every day from 11 to 3. They are located at 28 Pelletown Road, Augusta, NJ 07822. They can be reached at 973-875-8540.