Misty and Kittens, from the Albany Homeless Camp whose Residents will be Evicted at the end of June

This is Misty and her four kittens. I went with two Albany City council people and a formerly homeless man down into the Millersburg homeless camps, to help remove any cats the homeless were willing to give up, since they will be evicted from the area at the end of June.

It was about a quarter mile walk down into the camps themselves. We had to crawl up and over the linkage between train cars. Albany Council woman Sharon Kanopa and Councilman Dick Olsen are attempting to help any homeless folks who want the help get jobs and find places to live. Those willing, get prepaid cell phone and clothes to aid in job searches. So far, seven homeless folks have jobs lined up and some already have places to live, real places, with the help of Sharon Kanopa. It will be up to them to stay with it. Hopefully they will.

The other homeless refused help and many are very upset about having to leave the camps. There is a great deal of trash and human waste all throughout a large area. And lots of animals, both dogs and cats. Most are flea ridden. Some are sick and malnourished, like the 11 cats I removed from the camp of two men, who agreed to let them be taken. There are still two big males in that camp, making the number of cats in one camp alone, and there are 17, 13! The two men also have five dogs.

We carried them out the long distance in carriers, handing them between the railroad car we climbed up and over.

The cats were skinny and severely flea infested. Dick and Sharon took three immediately up to Jefferson and they were fixed the next day courtesy of POPPA Inc. (www.poppainc.org). Misty and her four kittens, along with Stormy, an all black female with two seven day old kittens, did not get fixed. I now have 11 cats in my bathroom, but SafeHaven may take most of them on and thankfully so, if they do. The Albany paper is going to run photos of them, maybe tomorrow, in hopes of finding them homes quickly. This is only the beginning.

Coicidentally, I was called by someone wanting me to trap and fix five or six cats in the Corvallis homeless camp behind Safeway out off Circle. I wish people would fix their pets or not get a pet. I am tired out from all this, day in and day out.