POWERGRAMS

3 Some cats will live at the facility for the rest of their lives, Starr said. "Jackie was shot in the spine with a pellet gun, and so she lost her ability to use her back legs. The doctor said she would never walk again, but she runs all over the place," Starr said. Since it opened four years ago, the shelter has found homes for more than 2,000 cats, Bowman said. Although most cats have been adopted by families in the Birmingham area, others have been placed in homes as far away as Tennessee, Indiana and New York. "We try our best to help every cat we can," said Bowman, director of Kitty Kat Haven. "When we don't have room, we farm them out to other rescue groups or our volunteers will foster them." The rescue facility is unlike most others, Starr said. The cats are uncaged and live in a fully furnished home, allowing them to become accustomed to sleeping, eating and playing inside. Some shy cats or nursing females even have their own rooms. Starr said Kitty Kat Haven is in the business of saving lives. "We want to make a difference and help the cats in need," Starr said. "If we rescue a cat and take it in, it will live at our rescue house until it gets adopted. If it's younger than 3 months old, it will go into foster care. No animals are put down unless they are terminally ill." Starr volunteers for several hours every week at the rescue house, feeding its 40 occupants, and cleaning and disinfecting litter boxes. On Saturday mornings, he helps show off kittens and cats at the facility's weekly adoption events at Petco at the Grove Shopping Center in Birmingham. "Charlie is amazing," said Bowman. "In addition to his job at Alabama Power, he comes to the rescue house a couple of times every week and helps at our adoption events on Saturdays. He has meant the world to us because without him, we would not have Kitty Kat Haven." Starr, who has owned cats all his life, started rescuing them long before Kitty Kat Haven opened. In 2008, Starr began trapping about 20 feral cats that his mother had been feeding outside her Anniston home. Over the next five years, he trapped the cats, paid to get them neutered and, because they were wild, released them into their former neighborhood where his mom still feeds them. Starr and Bowman said connecting cats with their "human" families is fulfilling. "Rescuing these cats and making them available for adoption allows us to bless people," Starr said. "Pets bring comfort and joy to people's lives, and that means a lot to us and puts a smile on our faces." By Carla Davis COMMUNITY Starr pets Jackie, who is a permanent resident. Cats have gotten a second chance with Starr's help the past five years at the cage-free, no-kill haven. PHOTOS by PHIL FREE

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