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Sherry and Tim Sterner have found new homes for all but six of the 49 cats they owned before having to move. |
BY PORTSIA SMITH
Tim and Sherry Sterner have started a new life.
The former Caroline County couple have finalized their bankruptcy, moved to Spotsylvania and are trying to move on with their lives.
In doing so, they had to leave behind about 17 years of memories in their now foreclosed home, and 49 cats.
Yes, 49--three more than they originally thought.
It's been four months since the Sterners moved into their rental home with their nine dogs.
A Free Lance-Star story about their search for homes for their cats generated an outpouring of support from people willing to take in some of the abused and abandoned felines the Sterners have cared for over the years.
There was even an offer to pay off the mortgage, but that didn't work out.
Six of the 49 cats are still in need of a new home. They are Maine Coon brothers Gabriel and Tazz, Tilly, Milly, 10-year-old Spit and outside cat Boomer.
Tazz looks like he's sticking his tongue out because he was shot and lost his lower jaw, Sherry said.
The cats are still in Caroline because the Sterners are not allowed to have cats at their current home. But they travel to Caroline to feed them and give them water.
They are especially worried now because the house is about to go on the market and they don't know what might happen to the remaining cats.
IN GOOD HANDS
As for the other 43 cats, many were placed in homes or taken by animal rescue groups.
Miss Skittles, the 17-year-old they thought would have to be put to sleep, is doing well in Henrico County.
Siblings Shoes and Socks ended up in Springfield.
Funnyface and Radar are in Culpeper.
Freckle is in a foster home in Richmond and his brother Mouse was diagnosed with feline leukemia and was euthanized.
Denise Davis of Westmoreland County adopted Lady and tailless Stubby.
"They seem to be friendly and fit right in with my other cat," Davis said. "[The Sterners] had taken good care of them."
Some of the Sterners' cats are at the Fredericksburg SPCA waiting for a permanent home.
"I know my cats are in good hands," Sherry said.
The love and attention the Sterners once gave 49 cats are now going to their nine live-in dogs.
Sherry has a sign hanging in the living room that says "I got a dog for my husband it was a fair trade.
ADJUSTING TO CHANGE
Tim is still driving a tow truck and looking for a second job to help make ends meet. He was laid off from his carpentry job in 2007.
Sherry has been a 911 dispatcher for 15 years and took most of the calls for Caroline's Animal Control Office. If they couldn't answer a call about an abandoned or injured cat, she would alert Tim.
He would pick it up and take it home, and they nursed it back to health.
Now, she can't even bring herself to answer the animal-control line or be around other cats.
"I find it really hard to be close to a cat now," Sherry said while rubbing her dog Weezer's belly. "The emotions that it brings back are just really hard."
Losing their home was a big loss, too.
At one point, a Fredericksburg couple offered to help them buy back their home. The would-be Samaritans looked at the home and took pictures, but the deal fell through.
"We thought it would be more than they could handle, and it turned out that it was," Sherry said. "But the offer itself was so generous."
Now, the Sterners are getting used to their new space. They've planted a garden, given it the Sterner touch and said it is finally starting to feel like home.
"Maybe one day we'll have a cat or two--but not 49," Sherry said.
Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419
Email: psmith@fredericksburg.com
