The Recession's Furriest Victims

Let's see, it's $85 for the jumper there, but we'll give you the whole set for an even $800.

So now that you Juice readers know how Feline Friends was deprived of some $11,000 by an opportunistic former treasurer, maybe you've been softened up enough to think seriously about adopting a cat.

In reporting the two-part story of Feline Friends (Friday's is here; Monday's here), I paid a visit to their shelter near City Hall in downtown Deerfield Beach. It was a full house, as it's been all year -- exactly 70 cats. That's the volunteers' self-imposed limit.

"The name's Bella. As in 'This Bella don't feed itself.'"

And though all the orphans appear well-fed and they have easy access to toys, human contact, and healthy adventure, still it seemed that each individual member of this feline universe hoped to graduate, eventually, to more intimate environs.

From Philadelphia to Pflugerville, Texas, pets are being abandoned more and adopted less, as people have grown more cost-conscious. This year, Feline Friends has placed only one cat in a new home. It's an unprecedented slump.

Evie here wants to grow up to be LOLCat

All the cats pictured in this post are available for adoption. They're all vaccinated, wormed, spayed, and neutered. Every penny of the $85 adoption fee goes back into the shelter.

Considering that Feline Friends is at its limit, adopting one cat means saving another from euthanasia at the public shelters. If you can live with that, fine. After all, there's only a tiny chance that in your next life, you'll be an orphaned cat stuck on death row.

More cats after the jump.

Oscar, with paws too cute to ever make mischief