This program is designed to find homes for cats that may be unaccustomed to enjoying human companionship and prefer the outdoors. They may want little attention from people but that can change in time and with patience. If you have a safe, warm barn or other outbuilding and would like to fill it with a cat or two, please call or come by the shelter.

To help your new barn cat acclimate to his/her new surroundings, we encourage you to plan to keep it isolated in a small area within your outbuilding initially, later confined to the outbuilding and later still, given access to the outdoors. Taking the time for this acclimation will set you and your kitty up for success! We will be glad to go over these details and more.

If you are looking for a Barn Buddy, the Oakland County Animal Shelter & Pet Adoption Center is always accepting applications. These cats will be spay/neutered, vaccinated and ear tipped at no cost to the BB participant.

Adopters of barn cats must complete an application process.

• Barn Buddies Application

For more information please contact Shelley Grey at greys@oakgov.com.

C.A.T.S. (Companion Animals Touching Seniors) offers seniors the opportunity to foster a cat. The program thirty days, in which we provide all the necessary supplies to care for the cat. When the foster period ends, the senior has the chance to adopt the cat. The only fee they are asked to cover is $7.50 for the license. If you are interested in this program, please contact Oakland County Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center.

Start the trend and become a Fitness Unleashed Ambassador in your work place! Local businesses spend their lunch break walking dogs & socializing cats!

Having a pet can help you live an active, healthy lifestyle!

Oakland County is a great place to live, work and play! Develop a healthy lifestyle by adopting a shelter pet!

It’s a proven fact: dog owners are more likely to be physically active and less obese. Getting 30 minutes of activity every day is a substantial way to prevent heart disease and pet owners have significantly lower risks of cardiac conditions. Taking your dog for walks also strengthens your bones and helps to prevent osteoporosis because it is a weight bearing exercise. Make your dog your work out buddy and you both reap the benefits!

Something To Purr About!

Cats offer many benefits to health and wellness, aside from being cute and cuddly! Owning a cat can lower your risk of stroke by 30%! Owning a pet also naturally lowers your stress and blood pressure levels.

Just 15 minutes with your pet will cause physical changes in your brain to reduce levels of cortisol (a hormone that causes many cardiac problem, produced from stress).

Oakland Pet Adoption Center joins with Teacher's Pet, a501(c)3 non-profit organization, to pair hard-to-adopt dogs with at-risk youth for a 10-week training session. The student trainers work with the dogs on basic obedience commands in order to make them more adoptable into permanent, loving homes while the trainers themselves mature in a kind and compassionate manner. After the 10 weeks are over, the dogs are then available for adoption.

The program works with youth from Kingsley Montgomery School in Waterford, Children's Village in Waterford, Crossroads for Youth in Oxford and Mount Clemens Juvenile Justice Center.