KHS Declares 2019 ‘Year of the Cat’ – Plus Largest Adoption Year Ever
The Kentucky Humane Society (KHS) had its largest adoption year on record, with 6,902 animals finding homes in 2019 – 816 more pets than the year before.
And the biggest winners were cats.
“We are calling 2019 ‘the year of the cat,’” said Andrea Blair, KHS spokesperson. “For the first time in our history, cat adoptions were higher than dog adoptions.”
In total, 3,424 cats found new homes versus 3,398 dogs and 80 horses. Typically, about one-third of adoptions at KHS are of cats, but over the last few years, the number of feline adoptions has been growing.
“More and more, cats are becoming people’s choice for a new pet,” said Blair. “Cats are often great companions for senior citizens, busy families, renters, people who travel for work – and we’re seeing many millennials choosing cats as their first furry family members.”
Blair says that 1,583 cat adoptions took place at Purrfect Day Café, located on Bardstown Road. Businessman Chuck Patton opened Louisville’s first cat café in August 2018. The cafe serves coffee, snacks and cocktails while patrons interact with adoptable kittens and cats from KHS.
At the same time that cat adoptions have been going up, KHS is seeing fewer unwanted cats from Jefferson County.
“Louisville is a success story in terms of lifesaving for cats,” explains Blair. “The combined work of Alley Cat Advocates, KHS and Louisville Metro Animal Services – all which provide spay/neuter surgeries for local cats – means that we are seeing fewer kittens being born in Louisville, so fewer are winding up in shelters.”
With fewer shelter cats in Jefferson County, KHS has extended its reach to help overcrowded shelters throughout Kentucky. In 2019, KHS took in cats from 20 Kentucky counties and readied them for adoption in Louisville.
To help even more pets in Kentucky, in 2019 KHS launched its Love 120 program, with the goal of helping companion animals in all 120 Kentucky counties within the next decade. Through this pilot project – which is funded by a grant from WaterShed Animal Fund – KHS is providing intensive resources to three targeted communities – Graves County, Breckinridge County and Perry County. KHS also takes in at-risk animals from overcrowded shelters across Kentucky while providing resources to empower rural shelters to improve animal welfare in their communities.