Prison with cats prepares to close

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BELLE GLADE ? Dozens of cats and kittens will soon be free from a life in prison.

Palm Beach County animal control officers are racing to remove as many as 80 cats from the state-run prison in Belle Glade, fearing they will be left without access to food and water when the facility closes its doors on Dec. 1.

The cats have taken up residence on the prison's grounds, burrowing under fences and living around buildings. They have been fed by prisoners, despite rules that prohibit the practice, officials say.

"They are not supposed to feed them, but they do," said Paula Bryant, a spokeswoman with the state's Department of Correction.

The state announced it was planning to close the 1,000-inmate prison this year, and the Department of Corrections has slowly been moving prisoners to other facilities across the state. As of Monday, there were more cats than prisoners. Officials said there were just 69 inmates left.

In an email set to animal protection groups last week, Animal Care and Control Director Dianne Sauve asked for help finding homes for the felons' felines, offering to waive adoption fees for the "prison cats."

"Our goal is to save as many of the healthy, adoptable cats as possible and to place them into loving homes," Sauve wrote.

So far, 23 prison cats have been taken to the county's shelter on Belvedere Road, Walesky said.

All but four of those cats, however, were feral and could not be put up for adoption. The majority were euthanized, Walesky said.

Officials hope the remainder of the cats will be more adoptable.

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