Shelter manager Barb Muecke picks up and pets a small, 6-month-old cat named Angie, the newest cat at the shelter, as she looks out at the other 16 cats roaming around the big cat room or on the back patio of the Moyer Animal Shelter in Powell. 

Angie was brought in as a stray, she said, and wouldn’t be touched at first. Now, Muecke said, “she’s a lover.”

Muecke loves turning stray cats into adoptable pets and her hard work has been paying off, as the shelter’s cat population has dropped from a recent high of more than 40 to 22. Five of those are kittens, including one Muecke has at home to bottle feed — she said those are the hardest to return, which is why she said her husband has told her she’s reached the limit of adopted cats she has at home. 

As for cats at the shelter, she said the relatively low number of 22 she expects to rise soon.

“It’s kitten season,” she said. 

And with seven dogs in the shelter as well, which is a lot for the small building and staff to handle, the shelter needs help from the community. 

She said they welcome donations of money, of dog and cat food — even partial bags — and they always need cat litter, which they go through quickly, even with five litter boxes lined up in the big cat room. 

And they need people to adopt the cats and dogs at the shelter, so they can maintain their free spots to handle stray dogs and cats that may stay just a night after being brought in by Powell police officers. 

If stray animals aren’t claimed after a week, Muecke said she’ll then look into getting the animal spayed or neutered, caught up on shots, and then prepared for adoption. 

Adoption is the ultimate goal, and a small dog, a happy ball of fluff, jumps up in the cage and yips as Muecke notes the dog is being held pending an adoption. If it goes through, it’s one more small success at a shelter that relies on these small successes continuing.