A behaviour cat, Baneberry found his forever home in the ‘Mission Adoptable’ effort to boost adoptions by animal shelters.
Baneberry was brought into the Australian Animal Protection Shelter Keysborough as a stray cat last year, who could not be touched and described “extremely difficult to handle,” AAPS animal welfare manager, Amanda Warrick says.
“He spent a lot of time in our isolation area as he was extremely timid,” she said.
“Our cat staff worked really hard with him consistently and slowly he improved and became more accepting and confident with human touch.
“He progressed to our busier and louder areas as he became more confident.”
During adoption rounds, it’s said he would hide under his chair, never to be seen again, and would only come out over night-time to eat his food when no one was there.
But slowly Baneberry built confidence and would pop his head out.
Luckily for worried staff members at AAPS, Baneberry was adopted over the ‘Mission Adoptable’ weekend from Friday 20 February until Sunday 22 February, by a family who visited Baneberry few times before their final decision.
Behaviour cats can remain at the shelter for months and a year as staff struggle to find foster carers for them.
The initiative saw 18 adoptions where participating shelter significantly dropped adoption fees to just, $50 for a de-sexed, microchipped, fully vaccinated cat or kitten, saving upfront costs.
The drive was to push adoption numbers ahead of a prolonged peak cat and kitten season due to warmer conditions, as shelters prepare for additional hundreds of cats and kittens to enter their care.
Recently AAPS took in 58 cats facing euthanasia at an overwhelmed council pound. It brought its total intake to 133 cats and kittens in the shelter and 50 out in foster care.
Participating groups in Mission Adoptable include Animal Aide, Australian Animal Protection Society (AAPS), The Lost Dog’s Home and RSPCA alongside a number of metropolitan and regional rescues.
