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Store helps find cats homes
SPCA works with Pet Valu in adoptions

By NANCY POSTER For Dispatch/Sunday News

Woody and Joanne Woodfill are finding it harder these days to get their work
done at the Pet Valu store in the Hanover Crossing Shopping Center. The
store became a satellite location for the York County SPCA on June 19, and
is now offering cats and kittens for adoption.

So far, the Hanover pet store is housing nine kittens and two adult cats. Of
those, three have potential homes, Joanne Woodfill said.

The Hanover satellite shelter is an experiment, but one that is working very
well so far, she said.

Donna Ward, the executive director of the York County SPCA on Big Mount Road
in Thomasville, said the shelter tries to partner with pet stores that don't
sell animals. A similar alliance exists with the Family Pet Center at 911
Loucks Road in York.

The Pet Valu partnership came at the shelter's busiest time: It is bursting
at the seams with 72 cats and 36 dogs, Ward said.

Good homes: Those who adopt from the Hanover location must undergo the same
process as those who adopt from the Thomasville shelter. Potential pet
owners complete a two-page application and sign a legally binding contract
to assure they will care for the pet, Ward said.

Shelter workers look for adoptive owners who "know what they're getting
into" and realize pet ownership is a lifetime commitment. They also make
sure the new owners understand the financial expectations involved in
adoption, are willing to provide veterinary care to their new pet and have
residential stability. In addition, they check records to assure the
potential owner has not been convicted of animal cruelty, she said.

The partnership with Pet Valu is a win-win situation, Ward said. It attracts
customers; and because the Woodfills know many of the customers who come
into the store, they know the adopted animals will be placed in good homes,
she said.

Pet Valu has provided a large cage for the cats in the front of the store
and another cage was provided by Chris Lloyd, the SPCA's adoption
coordinator for the store. Donations of food and kitty litter are
appreciated. Supplies can be dropped off or bought at the store, Joanne
Woodfill said.

As the cats are adopted, they will be replaced by new ones from the shelter.
In the future, dogs may also be available for adoption at the store;
however, they may only be there on the weekends and accompanied by a shelter
worker, she said.

The Woodfills have come to understand the unique personalities of the
kittens. They lead admiring customers to the cages to point out the kitten
that scoots into a hammock to catch a nap, or the three feral kittens who
shyly cuddle next to each other.

"A lot of times, we don't get the work done," Woody Woodfill said.

While they want to find loving homes for the pets, adoption presents a
woeful predicament.

"We hate to see them go," Joanne Woodfill said.