CUMRU TWP., Pa. – Warm weather means something a little different at the Animal Rescue League of Berks County.
For the Berks ARL, it’s the start of kitten season. During the warmer months, cats outside can have up to three litters a season, with up to six kittens per litter.
“We get an influx of kittens, and there’s quite a few here at the shelter right now,” said Alyssa Budock, the rescue’s communications manager.
Budock said the rescue is trying a new approach to help more cats find homes: the “Cat’s Day In” program.
“It’s really just a great way to get cats enrichment,” Budock said.
Visitors can come inside one of the cat enclosures and meet multiple cats at once.
“This is a great way to get them socialized…and really see how they would do in a home,” Budock said.
After watching a short training video, participants can hang out with up to seven cats every day from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., except on Tuesdays. Visitors can read to the cats, feed them or even just hang out with them.
“It gets people around the cats, and it familiarizes them,” said Denise Anastasio, a mother who brings her daughter in to read to the cats every week.
Budock said the program’s already had success.
“People may not be coming here for the idea of adopting,” she said. “However, when they meet the cats and they interact with them a little bit more, they tend to fall in love and then they adopt.”
That is, of course, the “purrfect” ending.