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Couple takes in abandoned cats, hopes to find them homes

Germantown Road residents are running their own rescue operation.

Carolyn Emerson holds Tipper, a kitten to one of the several stray cats that she and her husband, Danny, have taken in over the past 12 years.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Carolyn Emerson holds Tipper, a kitten to one of the several stray cats that she and her husband, Danny, have taken in over the past 12 years.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer 9:51 PM Thursday, September 2, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — When the recession hit, its impact came in many forms. For some, it was a pink slip or less money in their retirement account. For the Emersons, it was the cats who started showing up at their back door.

“When we first moved here we would see a stray cat maybe once every couple of months and now it is almost every day,” said Carolyn Emerson, who has lived with her husband, Danny, on Germantown Road in Middletown for 11 years.

Some were feral, but the overwhelming majority once were family pets — friendly but malnourished, hurt or diseased. The lucky ones ended up on the doorstep. Others met their fate on the busy roadway.

The couple said they think the economy is to blame: just spend a night at the nearby bar and you’ll see motorists dump off the animals in the trees or find cats strolling up from the abandoned homes and trailers down the road.

“What with the economy the way it is, people are not going to give their kids away and what comes next? The pets,” Carolyn Emerson said.

Their newest arrival, a wirey gray cat named Grace, was so emaciated the Emersons weren’t sure she would survive. Two weeks later a neighbor found her litter of six kittens, who were relatively healthy.

“She was giving up her life for her babies,” Emerson said.

So the Emersons have tried to shoulder the financial burden others have left behind.

Emerson said they spend $300 a month on food, litter and vet visits. She’s footed the bill for spaying and neutering, vacinations and ads to find them a home. Every other day, despite their physical ailments, they bend down to clean one of seven litter boxes and each morning their eight current residents get fed, combed and wiped down to reduce dander since Danny Emerson is allergic.

Now the Emersons are trying to find a home for Grace and two of her kittens as well as some of their other felines.

It’s not that the couple doesn’t love the cats, which they have affectionately given names like Drifter, Sneezer and Six Pack. It’s just that the amount of cats scratching at the door for a bowl of kibble as become overwhelming.

“I just wish people would take care of their pets and treat them like they would their children,” Danny Emerson said. “Don’t toss them out like toys.”

Anyone interested in adopting a cat is asked to call the Emersons at (513) 420-9594.

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