The Brookhaven Animal Rescue League is readying to start a remodel on its cat colony area. An end-of-the-year grant investment of $15,000 from Petco Love will help in the effort to better meet the health and wellness needs of BARL’s “feline friends.”

The cat room contains old cat condos and dog wire crates, but these need to be upgraded to stainless steel condos and cages in order to improve cleaning and disinfection, which improves the health of the animals. Though the upgrades are costly, they are recommended for animal shelters.

“We are so grateful to have gotten this grant.  It gives us money to get started, and will cover a big portion of the revamp,” BARL President Rusty Adcock said. “We will need additional funds for the stainless steel cages and condos. They are so expensive, but they are the quality fixtures needed for animal shelters to keep cat populations healthy. We are hoping some cat-loving people will get behind this feline fixer-upper project.”

Most of the cat room at BARL is being gutted and revamped to add an isolation area. BARL has been in its current building since 2006, and not many changes have been made in the cat area during that time.

“The Petco Love investment has kickstarted BARL’s Feline Fixer Upper project,” said Adcock. “The upgrade is needed to ensure the health and wellness of our feline friends as they await adoption.”

BARL is a nonprofit that humanely cares for shelter animals while contributing to community activities that reduce the pet overpopulation, encourage responsible pet ownership, protect public health and safety, and promote the human-animal bond. BARL serves Lincoln, Franklin and Copiah counties.

Since 1981, BARL has taken in and adopted out thousands of animals. In addition, the league has helped reduce pet overpopulation by spaying or neutering thousands of shelter and community pets through different programs, while also helping with responsible pet identification utilizes microchips/ID tags.

Petco Love is a national nonprofit that has invested nearly $400 million across 25 years in communities nationwide to support a brighter future for pet families. Three million vaccines have been distributed, more than 75,000 pets have been reunited with their owners, and 6.9 million pet adoptions have been funded.

For more information, visit www.BARL.net and PetcoLove.org.