A high school construction class and a nonprofit that aids abandoned animals may not seem like a natural partnership.

But Marti Wajc, a supporter of the River Song Foundation in Hammond and an educational assistant at Broadway Middle School, saw an opportunity to help a worthy cause and give some Seaside High School students added experience.

“I’m an avid animal rights advocate, a vegetarian of 30 years, and I just saw the need and I knew where to go for help,” Wajc said.

Rita Smith, who started River Song five years ago, had mentioned to Wajc that the organization could use wooden cat shelters to house the feral cats that have colonized parts of Astoria.

After River Song representatives had approached Astoria High School’s shop class, to no avail, Wajc had an idea about who might help: Jeff Corliss, Seaside High School’s woods and construction teacher and wrestling coach.

“I know the wood shop teacher at the high school is a great man and a role model and a great community supporter,” Wajc said. “… Coach Corliss is a mensch: He does the right thing, he did the right thing. He said, ‘I don’t particularly care for cats either, but I’ll help you.'”

As Corliss’ construction class worked on constructing the nine cat shelters, junior Dylan Townsend confessed that he, too, lacks much feeling for felines.

“I have two cats, but I’m more of a dog person,” Townsend said as he worked on one of the nine wooden shelters.

No matter the students’ opinions on cats, they embraced the project.

“It’s been pretty fun,” said Hali Mergel, a freshman in Corliss’ class whose family has one cat, named Spaz.

The project fits nicely into Corliss’ construction curriculum.

“It’s building up to what we’re getting into next,” he said.

The class’s next task is considerably bigger: The students are building an 8-foot by 16-foot by 16-foot, two-story press box and storage area for the high school’s track.

Staying dry

Corliss consulted Smith on what River Song required from the shelter, and he and his class designed the shelters with those specifications in mind.

“We just talked and met about what they wanted and what they envisioned,” Corliss said.

The process required Corliss and his class to learn about the cat houses themselves and what they’ll be used for, Corliss said.

The shelters have four walls, a floor hole for the cat to enter, insulated walls, linoleum-tiled floors and a hinged roof that allows the cats’ handlers easier access to the shelter.

Some shelters are given to people who are caring for or housing abandoned cats, but the majority will stand in the areas of Astoria where the feral cats congregate.

“We try to position them so that they’re not visible and that cats can feel safe using them,” Smith said.

Smith knows the importance of a warm, dry shelter for abandoned cats, and the class’s design should keep area cats warm, which is vitally important in the cold, wet months, she said.

“It’s hard to come by adequate shelters,” Smith said. “… These shelters are specially made. They will provide insulated shelter for the cats. Most people believe a cat just getting under a porch or a house will be fine–it’s not.”

The Styrofoam insulation–which, like the vast majority of the materials, was donated by community members or local contractors–helps ensure that the shelters could withstand North Coast weather.

“This stuff will hold up a little better if water and moisture gets into them,” Corliss said.

Actually placing and securing the insulation and flooring was tricky for Townsend.

The hardest part is “playing Tetris with the Styrofoam and linoleum,” Townsend said as he tried to fit just the right combination of Styrofoam scraps into the shelter walls.

The shelters will allow Smith and River Song to control the feral cat colonies and, ultimately, reduce their size, she said.

When River Song employees and volunteers happen upon a feral cat colony, they trap the cats and take them to the veterinarian, where they are spayed and neutered.

After a few days of recovery, the cats are released back into the colony–unless they’re tame, Smith said, in which case River Song attempts to find someone willing to adopt the tame abandoned cats.

The shelters “help provide a way to anchor the cats to an area and stabilize the cats in an area and help keep the cats from being perceived as a nuisance,” Smith said. “It is part of an effort–we also get the cats fixed and immunized; we keep them healthy and sheltered.”

Smith said that research and her experience have shown that once feral cats have been stabilized and maintained in one area, “the numbers in that area will decline rapidly,” she said. “Eventually the numbers decline to maybe one or two, and they stay that way. It’s just amazing how much this helps.”

Yes, Corliss’s class–Townsend, Mergel, senior Josiah Price, senior Alex Lange and freshman Bailey Flatter–was gaining class credit and valuable experience; but, most importantly to Smith, the students were aiding a worthy local cause.

“We’re really grateful to the Seaside shop class,” Smith said. “… It’s important that these kids are lauded for their efforts.”

Wajc hopes that the attention for Corliss and his class’s good deed will also increase awareness about the importance of responsible pet ownership in Clatsop County.

“People need to be more responsible and get their cats and dogs spayed and neutered,” Wajc said, noting that Clatsop Animal Assistance and the Tri-Cities Spay and Neuter Thrift Store are two valuable local resources. “There aren’t just grown cats dumped there, there are whole litters of cats thrown out there. … It’s a worldwide problem.”

This story originally appeared in Seaside Signal.