NORWAY – Responsible Pet Care will be joining a national effort to place stray or abandoned animals in new homes over the holidays.

The shelter hopes to place as many as 100 cats and kittens between now and Jan. 2, said Shirley Boyce of the shelter’s board of directors. It is participating in the “Home 4 the Holidays” event sponsored by the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and the Iams Co.

“I think people are, maybe they’re a little more compassionate over the holidays,” Boyce said, indicating her hope that many cats at Responsible Pet Care will soon have loving homes.

Kathi Small, who has been with the shelter for seven years, said Thursday there are about 80 cats available now.

If people adopt a cat or kitten during the “Home 4 the Holidays” campaign they will receive an Iams starter kit as well as an opportunity to win a lifetime’s supply of Iams pet food.

Small said the shelter charges a $70 adoption fee, but that covers spaying or neutering, vaccinations and a free vet visit.

“We stress, if you want to give (a cat) as a gift, to make sure that the person can have a cat,” Smith noted. Responsible Pet Care also requires references and checks them before allowing a cat or kitten to leave the shelter.

For those who aren’t prepared to welcome a new pet into their home, Responsible Pet Care needs help in the form of donations including cat toys, cat food and cat litter, Boyce said. Bleach and paper towels also are needed “Bleach isn’t a real warm fuzzy thing to buy and take to the shelter, but we really need it,” Boyce said.

For more information, call Responsible Pet Care at 743-8679. Cats at the shelter and links to other shelters may be viewed online at www.mainepetshelters.com.