Page 21 - ALLISON'S MAGAZINE ~ ISSUE #104

KINGDOM OF

THE CATS

written by matthew brady | photography by lanai cat sanctuary

THROUGHOUT HISTORY, PEOPLE HAVE roaming cats on Lanai—the smallest
been crazy about cats. The ancient inhabited Hawaiian island, with about
Egyptians worshipped them. Famed 3,000 residents. As years went by and
American writers Mark Twain and the island became more and more
Ernest Hemingway both had many overpopulated with cats, larger facilities
cats, and the latter’s home/museum were needed. The sanctuary moved to
still has approximately fifty of his pets’ its current location in 2009, and today
descendants on the premises. Queen’s it has over six hundred cats and recently
Freddie Mercury wrote a song about one expanded to have an 1,100-cat capacity.
of his cats. Today, millions of Americans
have them in their homes. “The feral cat overpopulation is a really
hot topic, especially in Hawaii,” says
All these friends of felines would be Keoni Vaughn, the sanctuary’s executive
happy to discover that there’s a cat director, who grew up in Oahu. “Cats
paradise in … well, paradise. reproduce at a very alarming rate. Also,
the weather here’s great year round—so
The Lanai Cat Sanctuary was founded it’s a perfect storm for feral cats to breed.
in 2004 by cat lover Kathy Carroll, And we don’t have predators that, in
who sought to shelter the many free- most places, keep cat overpopulation

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