UPDATE: Kittens Scarlett, Sylvester, and Elsa have been adopted.

In this three-part series about local animal organizations, residents will learn about Newtown volunteers who choose to help the lives of animals in need.

The Animal Center of Newtown has been compassionately building a better world for animals for more than a decade.

As a local no-kill, nonprofit animal welfare organization, it currently helps to rescue homeless cats and provide them with the opportunity to find their forever homes.

With no permanent shelter, The Animal Center relies entirely on a volunteer staff and foster network. The dedicated team works tirelessly to ensure they provide the best care for the animals.

Monica Roberto, who is the founder and president of The Animal Center, said, "We may be a small, grassroots rescue group, but our results are big. In the past 11 years, we've saved the lives of more than 2,300 homeless animals in our community."

The Animal Center also has a successful Feral Cat Assistance Program, which works diligently to spay/neuter and vaccinate wild cats. In doing so, it helps control the population in feral colonies and reduces the risk of potential diseases that could possibly spread to neighboring animals.

After originally reaching out to the group to get advice on feral barn cats, Foster and Adoption Program Manager Laura McHugh has been diligently volunteering with The Animal Center for three years.

Ms McHugh is responsible for a number of vital jobs, including registering all the incoming cats, arranging medical appointments, screening adoption applications, and assisting foster families. She describes all the work and effort she puts in as very gratifying.

"I feel like I am with the best organization," said Ms McHugh. "The Animal Center is one of those places that once an animal comes into their program, anything they need will be done. I have never felt like an animal has come in and we haven't done everything in our power to help them."

Foster Volunteers

The Animal Center currently has 13 cats available for adoption, which are spread throughout five active foster families.

At their busiest times, and when people who foster come back from their summer vacations, they can have around eight or nine active fosters. The more foster families they have, though, the more animals they can rescue and adopt out.

All medical needs such as deworming materials or feeding bottles and formulas (for kittens under 6 weeks old) are supplied by The Animal Center. Foster families provide the food and litter, since the typical stay for kittens is only a short two to three weeks.

Around eight weeks old, or when the kittens are at least two pounds, they get spayed or neutered.

Newtown resident Rick Child has been volunteering with The Animal Center since the spring of 2015, after his oldest daughter, Caitlyn, who was just 14 years old at the time, inspired the family to foster.

In that time he has helped foster 22 kittens and two mother cats, with the last batch of kittens having been adopted out just a month ago.

"We have found that working with The Animal Center has been very easy," said Mr Child. "They provide a wealth of knowledge to help with the care of the kittens, and they are always available whenever we have a question."

With three young children ranging from 8 to 15 years old, Mr Child said the process of fostering has been extremely rewarding for his whole family. His children enjoy giving back to the community, and they learn to care for animals by having hands-on experience helping.

Mr Child explained, "They do everything from socialize the kittens, feed them, keep track of their weight, take pictures, and write descriptions for [the website] Petfinder. We truly have gotten more out of the experience then we ever imagined."

Newtown resident Angela Thill, who is also a repeat foster, has taken in a total of 17 cats or kittens through The Animal Center since July 2014.

She cares deeply for each cat she fosters, even keeping a list of all the animal's names and their adopters' contact information to keep in touch with them once they go to their new families.

She also became a "foster failure," which is an endearing term for someone who originally plans to foster a cat and winds up adopting it.

That cat, named Missy, now pays the kindness forward by taking care of the new foster cats that Ms Thill takes into her home. By the end of her foster's stay, Missy can be found tenderly grooming the kittens.

In addition to her animals participating in the foster fun, Ms Thill's family helps socialize the cats.

"We take them in as if they were ours," she said.

Right now, she is fostering black and white kittens Elsa and Humphrey, who were trapped on Father's Day weekend. They are siblings that are a bonded pair and are looking to be adopted out together.

Ms Thill says she finds so much joy from taking care of the kittens, and that she fosters because "there are so many homeless pets, and it is so nice to be part of something good. I love when they go to their new homes, as much as it brings a tear to my eye."

Kittens Elsa and Humphrey also have two siblings, Scarlett and Sylvester. They are being fostered by Newtown resident Karen Dryer, who has been volunteering with The Animal Center for two-and-a-half years.

The mother of these four kittens was feral and trapped by Newtown's Animal Control Officer Carolee Mason. At the time, the kittens were just under 6 weeks old, and it was decided that to give the kittens their best chance at being adopted they would be brought into foster care to get socialized.

When The Animal Center first received the kittens, Ms Dryer said, "They were tiny and completely wild. They would spit and bite … they would have hid under the first thing they could find."

As an experienced foster, she saw this behavior and felt they just needed socialization, care, and ultimately love.

"We do not have a shortage of love in our household," Ms Dryer said with a smile.

Her 18-year-old daughter, 9-year-old son, golden retriever Eli, and cat Lionel (whom she adopted from the Animal Center after fostering) all help do their part to take care of the kittens. Having this variety of support is important for getting the kittens used to dogs, other cats, and children, because it represents real life home environments.

After taking Scarlett and Sylvester into her home, she noticed that in just a couple of days the kittens were already opening up.

In a matter of a few weeks, they had transformed from timid kittens that you could barely pet to cuddly companions that are now ready to be adopted.

Ms Dryer said the most gratifying part of the fostering processes is the first time the kittens purr for her.

"When I get the first purr it is like a breakthrough," she explained. "It brings tears to your eyes, because you know they are finally feeling love and are accepting it. You feel a release in them where they just relax and that they trust you and they feel safe. It's a wonderful feeling, because that's what you want them to feel."

Interested In Volunteering?

The Animal Center is always looking for volunteer fosters for their cats and kittens.

They take the time to educate each person on how to best care for the animals, whether it is how to cat-proof a room or how to bottle feed young kittens. They also take into consideration the lifestyle of each family to pair them with a compatible foster.

Foster and Adoption Program Manager Laura McHugh explained, "Even if it's just one time [fostering], you have made a huge difference in the lives of these kittens. It's a beautiful thing you can do for an animal. They need us."

Ms Dryer says her personal experience fostering has been extremely rewarding and that she encourages others to help The Animal Center.

She said in doing so, "You are a very important piece in a process, and are doing a really nice service for the animals and for the people who end up adopting them."

The Animal Center Founder and President Monica Roberto said, "We are so grateful to all of the volunteers, donors, adopters, and veterinary partners who work with us. The fact is that they make our life-saving work possible. We couldn't do it without them. That they choose to spend their time helping the animals in our program is the greatest gift we could ask for."

For those unable to foster, but want to help, the Animal Center accepts donations. Its website suggests making donation canisters or coordinating food drives.

To learn more about The Animal Center and how to foster or adopt, visit theanimalcenter.org or the organization's official Facebook page.

Meet Bodi, A Special Needs Kitty

"Right now we have a wonderful cat who needs a home. His name is Bodi," said The Animal Center's Foster and Adoption Program Manager Laura McHugh.

He is a 2- to 3-year-old sweet, lap cat who has been in The Animal Center's foster program for about two months. In that time he has impacted the hearts of all who have met him.

Before coming to The Animal Center, though, his life was almost cut short. When Bodi tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) after a routine blood work exam at a local veterinary hospital, the staff was told to put him "to sleep."

Fortunately for Bodi, and for whoever gets the privilege of adopting this special needs kitty, the compassionate staff refused to euthanize him. They saw just how incredibly affectionate he was and contacted The Animal Center to help give him his second chance at life.

The Animal Center did not hesitate to come to Bodi's rescue and is now diligently looking for a good home for this playful, snuggly, young cat.

The Animal Center's founder and president, Monica Roberto, said, "Bodi would do great in a home with adults and kids older than 7. He is playful, outgoing, active, friendly, and absolutely loves to sit on laps - but prefers not to be picked up for too long… He gets along well with dogs."

Also, because Bodi is FIV+, she recommends he be a mainly indoor cat and be fed a high quality diet.

As a cat with FIV it makes it tougher to find an adopter, but The Animal Center hopes to dispel all the myths surrounding the misunderstood immune system condition.

For example, FIV is not transmittable to humans, only cat to cat.

Bodi's petfinder.com description explains, "In a young, vibrant cat like Bodi, it could be years before he displayed any symptoms of the virus. He is healthy. He is very sweet. He is not in any pain nor is he a danger to others."

To adopt Bodi visit theanimalcenter.org/adopt.