In the News - power outage damage, Hope for Animals

About 2,240 National Grid customers lost power early Wednesday for a couple of hours when strong winds downed a power line on Oak Street, a spokesman said.

As a result, the Senior Center's heat went off and the sprinkler system froze and three ventilators at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School and 10 more in the high school broke, causing water damage in all three buildings, said Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting yesterday.

Insurance claims will cover the damage's cost, Nutting said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

About a dozen people and shelter coordinator Melissa Trottier attended last night's meeting to support Hope for Animals.

"How sad it is that this community cannot help," Tanfani said. "We have to have some place for cats. The economic conditions are hard, but if we close our doors in May, you will have the problem of unspayed and feral cats."

To help support the shelter, call 401-996-4129 or visit the Web site www.hopeforcatssanctuary.com.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

feral cat video

Shelter Me has posted a video created by Ricky Ferreira who interviewed Dottie Luff to get the latest on the "famous" feral cats of Highwood Condo here in Franklin.

View the video here

In the News: Special Ed, more feral cats

By Aaron Wasserman/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Oct 26, 2008 @ 10:54 PM

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The number of schools not meeting the state's achievement standards under federal No Child Left Behind regulations is quickly mounting.

Forty-seven schools across MetroWest and the Milford area were designated as at least needing improvement as a result of 2008 test scores, including ones in districts often considered to be of high quality, such as Natick, Westborough and Franklin. Half of all schools statewide received such a label.

State education officials say they are not surprised the number of schools needing improvement is swelling - up by 156 to 828 total this year - because of the ambitious goals set under No Child Left Behind. The law requires all students reach at least proficiency by 2014 on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

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By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Oct 26, 2008 @ 10:44 PM

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FRANKLIN —

Animal rights group intervening with feral cats

By Joyce Kelly

DAILY NEWS STAFF

FRANKLIN - Franklin's Animal Control will start a trap, neuter/spay, release program for feral cats at Highwood Condominiums today, according to the head of an animal rescue society intervening with the situation.

The trapped kitten and cats will go to the Purr-fect Cat Shelter in Medway for evaluation, said Stacy LeBaron, president of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society of Salisbury.

The board of trustees for Highwood I, the section of Highwood where the cats live and roam, had voted to trap and kill the cats, but agreed to halt the plan and discuss an alternative when a resident and LeBaron intervened earlier this month.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"some people are just self-centered and narrow-minded"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Oct 10, 2008 @ 10:34 PM

Last update Oct 10, 2008 @ 10:41 PM

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FRANKLIN —

Neighbors are rallying to save a nearby colony of feral cats, contacting national animal rights organizations after learning Highwood Condominiums' board of trustees plans to trap and euthanize them.

Animal Control officers Cindy Souza and Tracey Holmes say the feral cats' feeding station, which they set up with Purr-fect Cat Shelter of Medway in nearby woods is on state land where trapping is prohibited.

"We've kind of stepped back ... It's really up to the people to stand up to the association at this point," Holmes said.

And they are.

Resident Leslie McShane contacted Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, to bring attention to the situation.

"I thought they should know what goes on in small towns that want to euthanize their problems ... instead of reaching out to the community to try and find homes for the feral cats or try to relocate the colony to a friendlier area that they can all survive in," McShane said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

cat fight continues

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Oct 02, 2008 @ 10:16 PM

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FRANKLIN —

The Highwood Condominium Association's board of trustees has decided to trap and euthanize a colony of feral cats at the complex that has been the center of a neighborhood dispute, according to Animal Control Officer Cindy Souza.

The move may be illegal, however, depending on who actually owns the woods where the cats roam and eat, she said. Souza and fellow Animal Control Officer Tracey Holmes believe the state owns the property, and trapping is not allowed on state property, Souza said. If that is the case, the association may instead put traps on Highwood grounds, she said.

"It's sad," Souza said.

Souza first intervened in 1997, when more than 200 feral cats roamed the premises, at times jumping out of a trash bin at people, she said, adding, "it was a real health issue."

She solicited the help of Purr-fect Cat Shelter in Medway to catch the cats, spay and neuter them, provide shots, and release them back where they were found, she said. They set up a feeding station in the woods next to the property, and for 10 years, resident and self-proclaimed "Cat Lady" Dorothy "Dottie" Luff, 81, has been feeding and caring for the cats, which she has also named.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

In the News - cats, alumni, walk/run, art, fair

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Sep 30, 2008 @ 01:20 AM

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FRANKLIN —

People at odds over a feral cat colony at Highwood Condominiums may get a resolution tonight.

The condominium complex's board of trustees will discuss the matter and possibly decide to take action at a meeting open only to condo owners, said property manager Roy Blanchard.

Blanchard declined to talk about the controversy.

"This doesn't need to be in the press anymore. We can take care of our own issues," he said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

All the remaining items can be found in this article on Franklin Notes

"It just amazes me to think that people can be so cruel to animals"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted Sep 20, 2008 @ 10:50 PM

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FRANKLIN —

With the vigilance of a cat stalking its prey, self-proclaimed "Cat Lady'' Dorothy "Dottie'' Luff, 81, scours the woods that are home to a colony of feral cats for traps.
Every day, she said she watches for them, terrified someone will catch and later kill one of her precious babies, whom she has named, fed and cared for over the past decade.

Recently, while she was checking on "Gayle,'' "Leftie'' (so-named because she always rubs against Luff's left leg), "Debbie'' and "Blackie,'' Luff looked down and saw an unfamiliar puff of fur on the ground.

As she petted the animal, she thought it was the softest fur she'd ever felt, and turned it over to discover it was a raccoon, and it was dead. Someone had stabbed it with a stick through the front of its body, she recalled, shaking her head and remarking that no child or animal had done it.

"Sometimes I think the humans are worse than the animals,'' Luff said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here