Cat lovers looking to adopt that purrfect feline friend can take advantage of Project Purr Baton Rouge.
Project Purr, founded in September 2010, aims to save cats of all ages from being euthanized by the Companion Animal Alliance, the private organization that took over the East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control Center.
Executive Director Maria Thomas said Project Purr saved more than 2,000 cats since its inception to December 2012. The organization’s goal is to reach 3,000 cats saved by the end of this year, she said.
Thomas said Project Purr began with a group of Baton Rouge residents who decided it was time to change the way local animals were being treated.
The city was putting down 90 percent of cats brought to shelters prior to Project Purr’s founding, Thomas said. She said this rate has decreased since then, although the number fluctuates.
Katie Henry, development director for Project Purr and 2012 University alumna, said foster homes are one of the biggest ways the organization is able to survive and take in so many animals.
All of Project Purr’s animals are kept in a group of about 50 foster homes, Thomas said.
Although the organization currently operates without a physical location, plans are in effect to fund and rent a site for a shelter in the near future, Thomas said.
The Carole Guillory Adoption Center, named after a late founder of Project Purr, will enable cats rescued from Baton Rouge shelters to live cage-free, as well as give the organization a permanent adoption location, according to the center’s donation website.
The adoption center was supposed to begin functioning Jan. 1, Thomas said, but kinks in the leasing process have delayed its opening indefinitely.
Thomas said the majority of the organization’s animals will be kept in foster homes even after the adoption center opens to ensure all of them will be able to live in a cage-free environment.
Painting and drawing senior Doris Belleau adopted her cat Sienna from Project Purr in October 2012. Sienna was the last cat to be either euthanized or adopted from an animal hoarding bust, Belleau said.
Belleau said she knew about Project Purr because she is a frequent Mall of Louisiana visitor, and she always stopped by the organization’s kiosk, where it holds adoptions every weekday.
The organization charges $90 to adopt cats four months old and younger and $70 for cats older than four months. Belleau said she found this convenient because all adopted cats are fixed and come with a microchip and all of their shots, saving new owners the trouble of doing these things themselves.
Thomas said Project Purr is lucky to have their presence in the Mall of Louisiana, something she said is virtually unheard of for animal welfare organizations. She said this location has helped make the Baton Rouge community more aware of Project Purr and its goals.
“We want the community to think of us when they think of getting a new cat,” Thomas said.
Get involved with Project Purr
[email protected]
Interested in adopting?
Mall of Louisiana
Mon. through Fri., 5:30-8 p.m., Sat. 12-6 p.m., Sun. 1-4 p.m.
PetSmart Millerville
Sat. 12-4 p.m., Sun. 1-4 p.m.
A cat available for adoption peers between kennel bars Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Project Purr runs a kiosk in the Mall of Louisiana from 5:30-8:30 every weekday.
