Not that it isn’t obvious to people who personally know me, but I am a cat person. I adopted a kitten this spring from the LaGrange Petsense and haven’t stopped posting photos of her on social media since.

So, when I was scrolling through Facebook and saw the LaGrange Animal Shelter promoting Cat Palooza, its adoption event, I started squealing at the cat photos posted. The animal shelter has about 18 cats that have been in the shelter for months, and are fixed, up to date on shots and are $16. They are even microchipped.

Shelter supervisor Chris Bussey said some of the cats are still there from when they took in about 70 animals from the Hilton Head Humane Society in September. The LaGrange Animal Shelter accepted cats and dogs from South Carolina before Hurricane Florence reached the state.

Bussey has said previously that cats get adopted out quickly, so still having 18, especially some still from September, is a little depressing. The shelter has a partnership with Auburn University’s vet school, where the cats will get fixed and then sent to Petsense in LaGrange. At Petsense, they get adopted out quickly.

Bussey said they won’t utilize animal rescue services like Puppy Pipeline until they have enough animals to send to other shelter’s up north. It makes sense — it’s more cost effective on gas transporting the animals for one thing.

Adopting an animal is something serious to consider, but we should think about taking in these animals. They’re already fixed and already have their shots, so there’s no extra charges. A perk of owning cats is that they’re honestly low maintenance animals — at most, make sure to feed them and clean out their litter box every day.

The LaGrange Animal Shelter is a generous place, cats are fed and cared for, but it’s not a home for them. A home for cats is letting them be able to have space for them to run around, lie in the sunlight and stare out at the birds and bugs that fly by windowsills.  A home is where they can have their own food and water bowls and litterbox, and receive unconditional attention (when they want it).

Again, don’t make a rash decision to buy a new cat this weekend, but if you have been thinking about it for a while and have the resources, now is the time to adopt one.