OLIVE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - An Ottawa County animal shelter is seeing more stray kittens dropped at its door this summer as another "kitten season" hits.
"Every summer is like this," said Allison Deters, operations manager at Harbor Humane Society. "We have over 300 cats and kittens in our care right now."
On July 17, a box of three adult cats and 13 kittens were dropped at the shelter. All of them had severe upper respiratory infections, Deters said.
"They were very emaciated – a lot of fleas, some maggots, so they were in rough shape," she said. "We took them in and got them all out into foster homes right now, and they're being cared for until they can go up for adoption."
The kittens were all spayed and neutered. The major reason kitten season exists is because many cats are not fixed, Deters said.
"Whenever you find a cat or kitten, make sure you bring it to your local shelter," she said. "We have the resources to care for it, but most importantly we will fix it before adopting it out. That's how we prevent [these] litters and hopefully a summer in the near future we don't have this kitten explosion."
Adoptions rates are still high at Harbor Humane during the pandemic. The shelter adopted out 84 animals since July 13, including 59 cats.
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