1

KEVIN GUTTING

Electra, a 31/2-month-old male, is held by Toni Katz of Marblehead just after he was picked up for adoption by Katz and her daughters Alicia, center, 11, and Rachael, 13, during the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society Black Friday Adoption Event at the Leverett adoption center.

LEVERETT - Electra the cat picked the Katzes.

"He absolutely jumped into our arms," said Toni Katz, as she cuddled Electra, a 3½-month-old black cat. "(He's) just so lovable and he hasn't stopped purring."

Nearby Katz's daughters, Alicia, 11, and Rachel, 13, looked on lovingly at the newest member of their family. The Katzes were just one of many families to gather at the Dakin Animal Shelter in Leverett Friday, where it was Black Cat Adoption Friday in honor of the nation's busiest shopping day of the year. The Katzes, who live in Marblehead, dropped by Dakin in search of a cat while visiting family in the area for Thanksgiving.

The two Katz girls have never had a cat before.

"I just love them," Rachel said of the cuddly felines. Of her family's newest member, she added, "he's just so cute."

"She's been counting down the hours and the minutes until today," her mom said.

The Friday event offered everyone who adopted a black cat the chance to enter their names in a raffle for a $50 gift certificate to the Ingleside Mall in Holyoke, said Leslie Harris, the shelter's executive director. It is the first year the shelter is holding the event, she said.

"It's to encourage people to come out and adopt on a day when many people are out shopping and thinking about the holidays," Harris said. "The purpose of this is partly because we have a lot of black cats right now.

"Black cats and adult black cats in particular tend to stay longer," Harris continued. "They're a little harder to see when they're in a room full of brightly colored animals. This is a way to show that it's their personality that matters."

On Friday morning, the shelter was temporary home to 14 black cats, over half of Dakin's feline residents. But if the first half-hour after the shelter's opening was any indication, it appeared that many of those cats would be on their way to new homes by the end of the day. The parking lot was full, the shelter packed with families combing the shelter's cages for new friends.

"I am getting a kitten," said Witt Smith, an 18-year-old Amherst resident. She had set her eye on Rosie, a 4-month-old black female. "I want it to be affectionate and friendly."

Her sister, Katie Smith, said the family had adopted cats from the shelter before.

"They don't have homes and they need homes," Katie said.

The importance of adopting a pet was a common theme among those gathered at the center.

"It's just the right thing to do, because these guys need homes and we have a wonderful home to give them," said Toni Katz.

Martha King-Devine, an adoption counselor at the shelter, said a prevalent concern among those adopting is how their new cat will get along with their old cat. She counseled putting the new cat in a separate room for roughly a week and then use a cloth to exchange the scents of the two animals before they actually meet. Feeding the two animals on either side of a door is a good technique for allowing the pair to become slowly acquainted with one another as well, King-Devine said.

"The key is to take it very slow," she said.

King-Devine was hopeful that Friday's event would prove a success.

"It has been busy, definitely busier than a typical Friday," she said.