Orange County Animal Services (OCAS) needs to find homes for cats that are part of their Working Barn Cat initiative. These cats are currently housed at the Animal Services Center in Chapel Hill, NC, and they are not quite social enough to be adopted through the regular adoption program. However, these cats would likely make great working cats if you have a barn, stable, or other structure that could use hard-working felines.

Adopting a working cat may be an effective way of controlling the rodent population in a structure or area while providing a safe home for a cat that is not social enough to be adopted to an indoor household. Working cats will be sterilized and fully vaccinated before going to their new homes. They will also come with general care instructions and recommendations for helping them to adapt to their new space on an adopter’s property. For more information about general care, helping the cats acclimate to their new space, and what adopters need to provide for these cats, please review this document.

If anyone is interested in adopting a working cat, please call the OCAS adoption desk at 919-942-7387, menu option 3. If a staff member cannot answer right away, please leave a clear message and someone will respond as soon as possible. 

To see listings for cats that are currently available as working barn cats, click here. 

Please know that we typically do not have potential adopters meet with these cats before adopting. In general, they are not socialized enough for these meetings and it can cause unnecessary stress for them. If any potential adopter is looking for a more socialized cat that can be met with, please visit this page for more information and check the "Available Pets" link for felines that are part of our regular adoption program.