Contributed photo
Toby, at top of photo, is the Halfway Home Pet Rescue’s mascot due to his permanent brain damage. However, Toby earns his keep at his HHPR’s foster home by helping to rehabilitate young feral cats and kittens and is slowly teaching Callie, a young feral cat, to trust humans by playing with him and curling up to sleep together within the human environment. Callie, like Toby, has already learned that she has first choice of recliners in the house and is becoming domesticated, thanks to Toby’s calm, trusting personality. Cats, like children, learn from each other. Rehabilitation of feral cats can be easily accomplished if they are trapped young enough, but most adult feral cats need to receive all necessary medical care and then be placed in barns with a large storage of straw. In return for this warm shelter and daily food and water supply, the spayed/neutered barn cat does efficient, non-poisonous rodent patrol for the farmer saving him from having expensive horse food ruined. HHPR is a 501c3 non-profit corporation and a Maine state licensed animal shelter. For more information go to www.halfwayhomepetrescue.org or call 492-1722 or email norma@halfwayhomepetrescue.org.
