Stray cats get new home

Dogs here, cats down the road.

Directors of the Butte Humane Society last week decided to give up for now on relocating the whole shelter and instead relieve overcrowding by leasing a nearby facility to house cats as well as its first spay-and-neuter clinic. The 4,000-square-foot building is the former site of Affordable Mortuary on Country Drive, less than a mile from the shelter’s Fair Street location.

“We are not going to try to move all the cats over, at least not right away,” Executive Director Christine Fixico said. The city will need to be involved, because by state law it must take an active role in tending to stray animals.

The shelter, which has long suffered from lack of public awareness and support, must now come up with ways to cover the estimated $45,000 to refurbish the new facility.