Daphne closed the door to her office as she came in to find Hank sitting in the chair in front of her office with his clipboard at the ready. She could see a thick collection of sheets. “How many do we have checking in today?” She sat down at the desk and prepared to approve the new arrivals in her system as she and Hank discussed them.
“The first one you should have is Sheba. She’s a long haired calico. Six years old. Current on shots. Seemingly healthy. Her owner died unexpectedly.”
Daphne scanned the admitting file. “Looks like a good candidate. Are you thinking Adoption House?”
“Yes. We think Sheba’s a good fit for that.” Hank waited while Daphne updated and approved the record before continuing. “Now you should have Simon. Thirteen. Solid black. Overweight. Some arthritis. He’s been a sweetie so far. Owners didn’t want to deal with an aging cat.”
Daphne shook her head. “Adoptable Retirement House?”
Hank nodded agreement, and she updated the record. When she was finished, he continued. “ This next one is a kitten, nearly grown. Stripes. The owner’s child developed allergies. Naturally, we’re recommending Adoption House.”
Daphne nodded, updated the information, and selected the next record and began scanning.
Hank let her read that one before continuing. “This one is a little tougher. Unresolved litter box problems that have been ongoing for several years. No medical reason ever found. Owners can’t take it anymore. We’re looking at Barnyard House.”
Daphne studied the screen a little longer, “He’s been an indoor cat all his life, and he’s eight. Let’s assign him to Halfway House Six for now and reassess in two days.”
Hank made a notation on his sheet as Daphne updated the computer system, “We can do that.”
They continued through the day’s Intake until they had discussed and assigned them all to what seemed like he appropriate house for their needs. Kitty City welcomed all cats and housed them according to their needs. If possible, they found a new home, but every kitty checking into to Kitty City had a forever home right in the City. Established in 2003, Kitty City currently housed 3,823 cats or kittens. It it weren’t for the Kitty City partnership, Kitty City would have been Edton, Texas, ghost town. Daphne was thankful they’d been able to rescue the town before it had deteriorated too badly. They were now legitimately on the map as Kitty City, and business was booming.
Hank would take care of making sure the admissions for the last twenty-four hours were safely and securely settled in. Every kitty arriving in Kitty City for residency was given a thorough medical examination. Adults were spayed or neutered if necessary. During this time, they were assessed for temperament and whether they were a good candidate for a home with humans. If they were, they earned residences that were easily accessible by people seeking pets. If they weren’t, they earned residences suitable for their temperament or needs. Kitty City was fully fenced with 8 foot high fence, but clearly, if a kitty wanted to escape, Daphne knew they weren’t going to stop them. Escapes happened rarely. Most kitties liked Kitty City. City Hall was open to the public and had plenty of accessible parking out front in an unfenced area.
Daphne’s job was to oversee the full operation and to ensure interactions with the public went smoothly, including the touchy job of declining to allow someone to adopt one of her kitties. She thought of them all as her kitties — as did most of her employees. Each residence had a house parent who knew each resident intimately. The number of kitties per residence varied, because it depended upon how many the house parent thought he or she could handle. People who could handle fewer cats were assigned to residences that needed fewer residents — either due to physical or mental health reasons. In some cases, the house parent lived on site, but that wasn’t a criteria for employment. Daphne didn’t want the problems of too many people living in Kitty City to manifest itself. In some cases, the residences weren’t up to standards for human habitation, but they served kitties just fine. In some cases, it didn’t seem like a good idea to have additional family members living on site. Despite that, Daphne employed a full public works crew for the Kitty City Water Department, the electric company liaison, and, of course, trash pick up. The trash pick up crew was the grounds crew — they kept Kitty City mowed, trimmed, and litter free, all while looking out for kitties in the grass.
She also had a full staff of city administrators. She was on her way to a meeting with the City Treasurer to check on the Kitty City finances. Some months were better than others for fundraising, but the treasurer had a proposal for her to consider, and Daphne wanted to hear it. She snagged a fresh cup of coffee in the break room and sat down in front of her treasurer’s desk to wait for her to finish the phone call she was handling.
The treasurer hung up the phone and turned her attention to Daphne. “Daphne, I’m so glad you had a few minutes. I have this idea for recurring income, and I think we can make it work. We can sell honorary deeds and tax them each year based upon the value of the property. It’s kind of like those zoo adoption programs you see, but this would give them honorary city resident status.”
“Okay. What do they get for the privilege of being an honorary Kitty City resident?”
“I’ve come up with a few things, but I’m happy to entertain other ideas. They’d get an 8X10 color photo, suitable for framing. We’d video the inside of the residence, and each year, upon payment of their “taxes,” they would receive a new photo album including that year’s residents and their biography, including the photo and first name of the house parent.”
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