For seven years, a group of dedicated volunteers has been trying to find homes for wild cats living on their own outdoors.

Sometimes abandoned in rural areas, such cats often produce litter after litter of unwanted kittens and may be subject to illness and injury.

Now, Dane County Friends of Ferals is opening a shelter to house about 35 adult feral cats until they can find permanent adoptive homes after they 've been vaccinated and spayed or neutered.

A fundraising drive, which is continuing, enabled the nonprofit organization to buy a 1,250-square-foot warehouse condominium on Post Road for $100,000 that will include an intake room for new arrivals, a medical treatment area and a large room with climbing places for healthy cats. When money allows, a surgical room will be equipped. The Friends goal is to raise $30,000 this year.

It 's a big step forward for a group powered by about 60 volunteers, a 10-hour-per-week veterinarian and dedicated board members who have been finishing the shelter themselves.

"We are not a typical board that 's not involved with the day-to-day operation, " said Kathleen Kane, board president. "We run the day-to-day. "

Sunday 's grand opening will introduce the public to the shelter, called Sly 's Place in honor of a major donor 's beloved cat, though the shelter won 't be open to the public after that. Cats won 't attend Sunday 's event, but will move in later.

Friends of Ferals helps live-trapped feral cats, checks their health, spays or neuters them and finds owners willing to provide outdoor homes with access to shelter, food and water. They 've placed about 1,900 cats.

Ideal outdoor homes are farms with outbuildings for shelter. Horse owners often need cats because their valuable feeds need non-chemical protection from rodents, Kane said.

"The cats become working mousers, which the horse farmers really like, " she said.

About one-third of the feral arrivals discover a new-found appreciation for human beings and are placed as indoor cats, Kane said. The group holds adoption fairs every Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at Mad Cat Pet Supplies, 7820 Mineral Point Road, for kittens and tame adult cats.

Ferals find a home

Zep, Aspen and Sneeze are three feral cats who got lucky when they were adopted a few months ago by Gail Van Haren and, after a confinement period, given free range to prowl her 30 acres between Mount Horeb and Blue Mounds.

"They 're kind of independent. They come and go as they want, " Van Haren said. She installed a cat door to a room behind her garage where she leaves dry food and water.

At first, her cats hissed, ran and hid when they saw her, but now Zep, who 's missing the tip of one ear, allows petting.

Not everyone endorses the idea of outdoor cats.

A 2006 report by the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative said "free-ranging cats are killing large numbers of birds in Wisconsin each year " and urged that cats be kept indoors for the protection of birds, small mammals and the cats themselves.

"We want to encourage them to capture the cats and neuter and spay them, " said Karen Etter Hale, executive secretary of the Madison Audubon Society and an author of the report. "We just don 't necessarily agree with them on what to do with them afterwards. Adopting them out is a good thing, too. We just think it would be better if they were kept indoors. "

Van Haren worries about meadowlarks and bobolinks, grassland birds near her home, but hasn 't seen any evidence her feral trio is preying on them.

Kane believes cats go after easier prey than songbirds and said establishing a stable colony of neutered and spayed cats, with human caretakers, is the best approach to deal with an overpopulation of feral cats.

Friends of Ferals works cooperatively with other local animal rescue groups, including the Dane County Humane Society and Angel 's Wish.

"No group is large enough to accommodate ' ' all the animals that end up homeless through no fault of their own, said Amy Good, president of Angel 's Wish. "Ultimately, it takes an entire community to care for the large number of homeless pets. "

SHELTER OPENING

WHAT: Dane County Friends of Ferals grand opening of their cat shelter and annual meeting.

WHEN: Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

WHERE: 627 Post Road. From Fish Hatchery Road, turn east on Greenway Cross, just south of the Beltline, then right on Syene Road and left on Post Road.

ADMISSION: Free; donations welcome.

INFORMATION: www.daneferals.org; telephone 608-467-4067