http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjo...tsgivecat.html
Students give cats the gift of a home
Delcastle class builds shelters for homeless felines
The high school shop class buzzed with power tools and moved to the beat of hammers as students built shelters for cats in the wild.
"This is a totally awesome project," said Delcastle Technical High School teacher Susan Pawlikowski.
Clyde Young Jr., 17, of Harrington, agreed.
Clyde likes that the houses will be used by volunteers to "help the cats who live in the wild have a better, safer life."
He and other members of Pawlikowski's morning shop classes are making 20 outdoor shelters in partnership with two nonprofit animal welfare agencies, Faithful Friends Inc. and Forgotten Cats. By building them, Clyde and nearly a dozen classmates are developing skills from framing and flooring to insulation and painting, Pawlikowski said.
Principal Laurence Monaghan said the chance for students to try many aspects of construction, learn about homeless pets and help the nonprofit groups is "a perk" for the school and students.
"At first, they were like, 'We're building cat houses? Why cat houses?' " their teacher said.
To explain, she showed a video by the national advocacy group Alley Cat Allies about the problem of pet overpopulation. The video shows how volunteers trap wild, or "feral," cats, have them neutered, provide medical care and release them with shelter and food provided.
According to Jane Pierantozzi, executive director of Faithful Friends, the student-built houses are part of a statewide effort in the national Trap-Neuter-Return program aimed at lowering the population of homeless cats.
Clyde and other students said they like pitching in to solve the problem. Eagle Scouts also gave support recently, making 10 cat houses for the Delaware Domestic Animal Coalition.
"We receive hundreds of calls a year from businesses and citizens who want a nonlethal way to care for homeless, nonadoptable cats that have come to their attention," Pierantozzi said. "The partnership with Delcastle and the Eagle Scouts enables us to offer caring citizens housing made especially for these cats - to protect them from the elements and predators while the individuals provide a daily food and fresh-water source.
"The project also is an education for the students about the pet homelessness problem, and the way to create a caring and effective solution," she said.
About 20,000 unwanted cats and dogs reach animal shelters in the state each year, and most are put to death, according to state statistics.
Forgotten Cats plans to distribute its shelters to volunteers already caring for feral cat colonies, while Faithful Friends will make some available to volunteer caretakers in the public for the cost of materials.
"I think it's good to help the cats," student David Nutter, 15, of Dover, said through interpreter Alexandra Richardson, of the Delaware School for the Deaf in Ogletown. "They need a lot of help living in the wild, and this will really help them."
Student Jose Ortiz, 15, of New Castle, said a wall installed next to the shelters' front door holes will keep wind, rain and snow off cats that curl up inside. "Instead of struggling in the cold to find a place to live," he said, "this will give them a better environment."
Damien White, 15, said a cat house would help near his Stanton home. "I want to make one for my neighbor," he said. "She takes care of the cats outside."
He and classmate Michael Bright, 15, of Elsmere, used power screwdrivers to affix boards to the angled boxes. "We're getting everything ready for the roofs," Michael said.
Nearby, Tim Denn, 14, of Wilmington, and Bruce Stapleford, 18, who lives near New Castle, measured, cut and counted shingles. "We're doing the roofing part," Tim said with a smile.
Pawlikowski said she was impressed the animal groups proposed the project, delighted it was approved and tickled that the students have embraced it.
"Everything about this is positive," she said. "And I think it's great. I'm an animal person."
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12/02
THE NEXT GENERATION JOINS THE BATTLE! BENEFITING ANIMALS AND PEOPLE
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