Cats Off!

A Maryland couple have rescued more than 3000 cats over the last 10 years. What started as an isolated rescue turned into a full-time job for Bob and Katherine Rude.

CNN reports:
A few years later, they bought a ranch house in Harwood and converted it into a shelter. Eventually, Bob and Katherine left their government jobs to work at the shelter full time. They now work seven days a week, morning through night, caring for their cats and dogs...

...The Rudes originally planned on keeping the shelter on one floor, and living in the rest of the house. But they quickly found that many of the cats required full-time care, so they expanded the shelter throughout their home.

..."For the evening meal, we go through about 25 cans of cat food. For the whole day, we go through about 40-50. ...We go through about 100 pounds of dry food a week for the cats, [and] 10,000 pounds of cat litter a year," Bob said...

Even buying in bulk hasn't helped the Rudes escape the financial woes that have begun to plague most business owners. Katherine says that so far, they have been able to support themselves but are concerned about rising costs and falling donations.

In the spirit of this story here is a link to my local humane society and to the national organization. Donate if you can.