LONDON, OHIO - The man nodded toward his prison cell and pointed directly at the three meowing kittens playing hide and seek behind his floppy pant leg and batting at his shoelaces. “It’s their house, and they have the run of it,” he said of the 8-by-10 room where he must spend his time. “We just get to sleep there.” Then he leaned down and, with two meaty hands, scooped up Max, a skinny 8-week-old orange tabby he is raising, and cuddled him.
“You get to prison because you had an issue, but you don’t come in and instantly become a good person. Change takes time,” he said. “These cats bring you closer to being good.”
Through a partnership with the Humane Society of Madison County which is at least a decade old, the men bottle-feed and otherwise care for kittens brought to them because the cats either were rejected by their mothers or because they came to the humane society without one. They have taken in approximately 50 this year.
They also foster grown cats — generally older or shy ones in need of socialization, and overweight ones that might benefit from exercise they can’t get when locked in cages for much of the day at the shelter.
The goal is to care for the animals and train them (the men swear that if you have the time, and they do, you can most certainly train a cat), and prepare them for adoption. They keep journals that eventually will aid their new pet owners. They note each kitten’s personality and track things like which ones won’t bite if you rub their bellies and which ones prefer stuffed mice over little balls with jingling bells inside.
The men log just how much each kitten eats, how much milk they drink and whether they prefer play or just sleep.
“The guys are like overbearing mothers,” Danielle King, the humane society’s assistant shelter manager, said with a laugh. “A kitten sneezes at 2 a.m. and they think it might be sick and call for help.”
Betty Peyton, director of the humane society, said she can send as many as 30 cats and kittens to the prison at any one given time, allowing the shelter to about double its capacity. But the manpower is really what helps the most.
“Bottle-feeding and caring for a litter of kittens is a 24/7 operation,” she said.
“To have these guys love them and take them in to get them ready for adoption helps us more than they even know.”
What a great program!