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Purrrfect SANCTUARY
'Not So' Purrrfect Angels provides homes for 315 cats down on their luck.
By
GIGI HANNA-----------------------------
THE FRESNO BEE
At Janice Rozzano’s house the whir of a can opener can start a stampede.
The sound of metal biting into metal is a dinner bell that rings for dozens of cats running from all directions.
The Fresno woman runs Not So Purrrfect Angels, a retirement home for felines.
At last count there were 315.
"We’ve been able to assist people in ways other shelters can’t," Rozzano said.
"If we find a home for one, we’re ecstatic. But our philosophy is that they can live out here for life."
Rozzano has nearly four acres southeast of the Sunnyside area for her colony of cats. About half are in the house with her and the others are in a fenced compound outdoors. None is allowed to roam.
The animals have kitty condos, toys and tree branches to amuse themselves.
"We sort of hang out here, but the cats own the place," said Lynda Huffman, who, along with Rozzano, founded the program in 1996.
Food, litter and supplies cost about $3,000 a month.
Vet bills range from $500 to $800. Expenses are covered by donations and a monthly barn sale that the group holds.
Rozzano pays the mortgage and overhead on the house. She has no outside job and said she has spent all her money on the operation, including cashing in her retirement account.
Now, she’s seeking more donations to pay off the mortgage and add a couple of outbuildings to expand her service.
The shelter is in an unincorporated agricultural area so Rozzano is not bound by city limits on the number of animals she keeps.
County environmental health officers said they had not had any complaints about her cat sanctuary, which is surrounded by vineyards.
The cats are available for adoption, but there are strict requirements
they must be kept indoors and prospective families have toPlease see
Purrrfect:
Volunteers aid in cats’ careContinued from Page B1
agree to a home visit from Rozzano or Huffman. Rozzano knows each of her felines.
There’s Cleopatra and Sam and Hubba and hundreds of others. They all come with a story, and she knows each of those, too.
Most of the cats have been rescued
— like the litter of six kittens found two weeks ago floating in a storm drain at a construction site.The two women spent 3½ weeks last year trapping cats that had been living in the basement of a drug house that caught fire. They captured a mother and 13 kittens. The mother and one kitten survived and now live out their days in the outdoor shelter.
Many of the cats are named based on the circumstances of their rescue.
There’s Fargo, a little tabby rescued from inside a Wells Fargo bank in Clovis. And Alhambra, a Persian mix rescued from inside a wall at the Alhambra Water Company.
Workers could hear her wails, but couldn’t find her. When Rozzano zeroed in on the trapped cat; employees were worried about having to tear into a wall to reach her.
"I told them they were going to tear it down now or tear it down later," Rozzano said. "She was stuck."
She even performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a newborn kitten, later named Angel.
She hopes to start a foster cat program especially for elderly people interested in a pet. Under the program, a cat would be allowed to return to the shelter if its owner died, and Purrrfect Angels would pay vet bills and even provide rides to the vet’s office, if needed.
Taking care of so many cats takes time. Rozzano spends about 13 hours each day taking care of her charges, with assistance from some 10 volunteers.
"You have to do things as they come up or it gets out of control," she said, grabbing Wally, a long-haired flame-point found in an apartment wall, to treat him for ear mites.
The women receive up to 30 calls a day from people begging them to take on another cat, or two.
There are referrals from vets, other shelters and calls from desperate people unable to keep their cats, but also unwilling to let them be killed.
"There’s a lot of sad stories out there and they love their animals," Rozzano said.
"We’re the last hope for people who don’t want to have their pets euthanized."
If the story is sad enough, Rozzano can’t resist. But the shelter is officially full.
It was considered full last year, but they’ve added 100 cats since then, she said.
"What’s considered full? I guess when I’m financially, emotionally and physically unable to take any more, then we’ll be full," she said.
"Right now I’m full, but if somebody called me about a baby that needed a bottle.
