<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Courtesy of WSLS-TV (Roanoke, Virginia) at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">(Video)</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><a href="http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/dec/05/barn-cat-buddies-serves-special-need-ar-2400755/">http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/dec/05/barn-cat-buddies-serves-special-need-ar-2400755/</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">-------------------------------------</div><div><p></p><h1><font size="3"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Barn Cat Buddies serves special need</span></font></h1><p></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lois Slotnick can hardly say no to an animal even the alpaca who made a guest appearance during our interview. Her extended family includes eight cats, all of them rescued.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I love animals and it breaks my heart when I hear that animals are being put down because there's no place for them,” she said.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So Lois makes the space, sometimes inside and sometimes down in her barn. That is where Sandy lives. She’s a rescue through the program Barn Cat Buddies, a local program with a very specific goal.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Diane Novak is the program coordinator.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We look for nontraditional homes, alternative homes for cats that aren't that social that you wouldn't keep normally in a regular home situation,” Diane said.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So instead of finding a home for a cat ready to curl up in your lap, they’re taking feral cats and finding them an outdoor setting like a barn, garden center, or shed. In those locations, the cats can live comfortably and even earn their keep, chasing mice and other rodents.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since 2007, Barn Cat Buddies has saved hundreds of cats, many deemed unadoptable.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This year alone we've taken out about 85 cats from four different shelters that were either on the euthanasia table ready to be killed or were destined to be killed in another day,” Diane said.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lois says it can take a few weeks for the cats to feel comfortable in their new homes, but in her experience it doesn't take long before they are part of the family. And, in the end, it’s a win, win.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I would say the experience and the rewards of having the pets there and knowing that you saved them is more than you can imagine,” Lois said.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The program is staffed by volunteers only and has very little overhead. In fact their only costs are vet bills. The group is holding a fundraiser to cover some of those costs. It's a bowling benefit this Saturday. You can find more information at the Barn Cat Buddies website.</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">---------------</span></p><p><img src="cid:FA514782-A294-4BBB-81E6-FA96BEEFD093" alt="barn-cat-buddies-serves-special-need-91793.jpeg" id="FA514782-A294-4BBB-81E6-FA96BEEFD093" width="400" height="300"></p><p><img src="cid:8572B668-3C0D-4858-B0E8-948D6C0F4E0A" alt="Isn't it time to adopt me.jpg" id="8572B668-3C0D-4858-B0E8-948D6C0F4E0A" width="450" height="338"></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">-------------------------------------<br><br><div>Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares"</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div> </div><div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></body></html>