It’s raining kittens! Whether an interested cat lover might care to adopt a new furry four-legged friend or simply to support the care of felines in need, they will find much to purr about at the annual Operation Kindness Kitten Shower, Saturday, June 17th from 10 am to 2 pm at Pet Supplies Plus, 13120 Cortez Blvd., Spring Hill. Kittens will be available for adoption, items needed by shelter kittens will be available for purchase at Pet Supplies Plus, and raffle baskets will be up for offer, with OK donors getting the opportunity to win some purr-fect prizes!
Operation Kindness for Hernando County Animal Services, Inc. (www.OperationKindnessHCAS.org ) was formed by a small group of local animal advocates “to enhance the quality of life, increase adoptions and educate the public on behalf of the animals at Hernando County Animal Services.” Operation Kindness is a nonprofit organization providing financial and in-kind support to HCAS to enhance the care of all animals in placement.
“We held our first Kitten Shower in 2017 and have held one annually ever since,” said Abby Evert, group president of Operation Kindness for HCAS. “The shower raises much-needed support for the hundreds of kittens coming into shelter placement, many of which are then placed into foster care. The Wish List provides needed supplies both in-house and to the foster parents.”
Pet Supplies Plus, says Evert, is the perfect site for this year’s Kitten Shower. “We’re holding the event at Pet Supplies Plus in their Community Room. HCAS, and in turn OK, have a strong partnership with PSP,” she said. “When PSP owners John and Sharon Hayek opened their store in 2021, they had built a beautiful free-roaming cattery to house and adopt out shelter cats and kittens. To date, they have adopted out more than 500 HCAS kitties, which is truly amazing!”
This event is a must-attend for fans of furry felines. “Not only will we have kittens available for adoption, we will have a few raffle baskets and the opportunity for participants to donate one of the many items needed on our Wish List,” said Evert. “PSP will have the items available for purchase prior to and during the event.”
John and Sharon Hayek, owners of Pet Supplies Plus in Spring Hill, are avid supporters of Operation Kindness and the animals they aid.
“When the Pet Supplies Plus corporate office gave us their proposed layout for our store, we saw that the cat adoption room was little more than a closet. We insisted that the cat adoption area be bigger and that it be glass on three sides. We wanted it to be visible from both inside the store and outside the store so that people strolling the plaza would see the cats and kittens available for adoption,” read information prepared for The Hernando Sun. “We were also adamant that the room allow for the cats to roam freely, as they would in someone’s home, and have plenty of platforms to climb on and nooks to explore. People always ask us why our business office, which is right next to the cat room, is so small. The answer is, we wanted the cats to be more comfortable and have more space, so we sacrificed some of our office space and allocated it to the cat room!”
And they want to help these pets find good forever homes. “We reached out to HCAS when we were a few months out from our soft opening and expressed our desire to help find forever homes for kitties. This was the beginning of a wonderful partnership with HCAS. We took in our first cats from them a few days before our soft opening in February 2021. Since then, we have adopted out more than 500 kitties,” the information read. “We also have a community room at the front of the store that we make available for HCAS when they want to showcase adoptable dogs. The community room is the perfect place to host special events like the upcoming Operation Kindness for HCAS Kitten Shower.”
The Kitten Shower Wish List is as follows:
Small, Open Kitten Litter Boxes
Clay Litter – Non-Clumping
Canned Pate’ Kitten Food
Dry Kitten Chow
Small Kitten Food/Water Bowls
KMR Powder
Pet Nursing Bottles and/or Syringes with Nipples
Miracle Nipples
Pet Microwave Heating Pads
Kitten Shampoo
Kitten Nail Clippers
Kitten Flea Combs
Kitten Toys
Disposable Pee-Pee Pads (22”x22”)
Visit the HCAS website at https://www.operationkindnesshcas.org/
