Felines for free

From now until Valentine's Day, the Charleston Animal Society is waiving adoption fees for cats 3 years of age or older.

The purpose of the promotion, dubbed "Free Over Three," is to save as many cats as possible, said Jim Bush, the society's executive director.

"We have more cats than we have space for," Bush said. "We can't stop the flow of cats coming in. Our only alternative is to get the cats coming in adopted."

The first cat adopted under the program was an 8-year-old domestic shorthair named Emma, who on Thursday won the affections of Elizabeth Medders of Hollywood.

Medders, 32 and a mother of three children, stopped at the shelter to look for a cat to replace a 9-year-old cat that had recently died. "I can't see getting an expensive, purebred cat when there are animals here that need homes," she said.

She first looked at a young black kitten, but then Emma, with her white-and-black hair and her bright green eyes, caught her attention. "I realized it would be harder for her to get adopted because of her age," Medders said.

She spent time with Emma in the shelter's "Get Acquainted Room" and after a while, Emma was curled up in her lap.

When Medders stopped at the shelter on her way home from work, she was unaware the adoption would be free. She was planning on paying the regular adoption fee, which is $95.

The shelter has taken in an unusually high number of cats for this time of year, Bush said. "We don't know why it has happened. We have a finite number of cages and we have to accept every cat that comes in."

Commencing Thursday morning, the shelter began euthanizing healthy adult cats that would normally have been put up for adoption, Bush said.

Stray cats are held for five days to give owners time to claim the animals, Bush said. Once those five days have passed, the cats are placed in holding areas until space opens up on the adoption floor, which holds 25 cats. Once a cat is placed in the adoption area, it won't be euthanized unless it gets sick, Bush said.

It's the cats in the holding areas who are in danger of being euthanized, Bush said.

In the holding areas, the cats don't have names, only numbers. They get names when they are moved to the adoption floor.

In one cage, a brown tabby, cat Number 90306, was ready and waiting to go to the adoption floor. Picked up by animal control on Jan. 18, he'd had all of his shots and tests. He was just waiting for a spot to open up. When Bush opens his cage, the cat affectionately nuzzles Bush's hands.

Cats of every type and description were waiting in the various holding areas. Bush estimated on Thursday that the shelter had 25 cats in the adoption room and almost 40 in the holding areas, and about another 100 within the five-day period for strays.

He said he hoped the "Free Over Three" cat giveaway would save all of their lives.

"Our mission is to save animals," he said. "We've got to get these cats out alive."

Reach David W. MacDougall at macdougd@postandcourier.com or 937-5655.