About the Program
As the official animal shelter for Flagstaff and Coconino County, High Country Humane has a responsibility to ensure the most desirable outcome for the companion animals who enter our shelter. That’s why we work to identify feral or stray cats who are happier living independently or prefer to keep their distance from humans but still need a protected or sheltered living arrangement. These cats are great candidates for our Barn Cats Program.
The Barn Cats Program gives cats who have no chance of being adopted into a typical home a better and more secure life simply by doing what comes naturally to them.
Even though not all cats are successful hunters, with cats roaming around a property and leaving their scent everywhere, rats leave the area on their own.
Other programs such as ours have placed cats with construction companies, in barns, flower shops, police stations, and other businesses looking for inexpensive, safe, and effective rodent control.
If you’d like more information about “hiring” a barn cat or cats, please call (928) 526-0742 or email us at support@highcountryhumane.org.
BARN CATS ARE FREE!
Rodent problem in your business, warehouse, barn, or other property?
Consider “hiring” one or more Barn Cats from our shelter! This is a great resource for you to protect your property in an environmentally safe way and save the life of a homeless cat at the same time.
Advantages of Adopting a Barn Cat
- You get an environmentally safe way to protect your property from vermin and rodents.
- You get to save a homeless cat, or cats, from an uncertain future by providing a secure place for the cat to live.
- There is no adoption fee; however a donation to High Country Humane will help save the lives of other homeless cats.
Our Responsibilities:
High Country Humane will ensure that the cat(s) you hire are:
- Spayed or Neutered
- Current on vaccinations for Rabies and FVRCP
- Microchipped
Your Responsibilities:
The cat you “hire” requires a commitment from you. That commitment includes:
- A safe area – the barn – with food, water, and a litter box during the first 1 – 2 weeks with lots of hiding spots, while the cat learns that this is their new home by adjusting to the sights, sounds, and smells in the surroundings.
- Shelter: a warm, dry building where the cat(s) can stay when the weather is bad and consider “home” for the lifetime of the cat(s).
- Food and water every day; clean, unfrozen water is a must. (Chasing mice and rats is instinctive with cats and providing daily food will not stop your barn cat from working.)
- A litter box or other acceptable place (including the outdoors) for elimination.
- A human caregiver who will be responsible for the cat’s well-being, including veterinary care and vaccines, as needed.
Please remember to bring a plastic cat carrier with you to pick up your barn cat(s)!
Available Barn Cats
If there are no currently available barn cats, please fill out the form below to be added to our “now hiring” list! We will contact you when more barn cats are ready to work!
“We’ve had cats at our nursery since we opened in 1972 and it’s been a huge benefit, both environmentally and psychologically. Our customers love the idea, our employees like having the cats around, and the cats are happy having a safe place to live.”
“I love the idea of having the cats around and in over 25 years we’ve never had a problem with rodents.”
“Getting a cat to keep the mice under control in our barns and saving a life at the same time is a classic ‘win-win’ to us.”