Michael and Rachel Potter went to the Jackson County Animal Shelter in October hoping to find an outdoor cat to live in their Central Point barn.

Michael Potter, a 60-year-old retired neurosurgeon, said they were disappointed to find out they couldn't adopt one of the kittens he and his wife were considering.

"They didn't say you can adopt a different cat," he said. Frustrated, the couple traveled to the Josephine County shelter, where they adopted Jericho, who now plays happily around the barn. "I can't pick her up without her being a purr bucket."

Potter, who recently raised the issue with Jackson County board of commissioners, wonders why it is so difficult to adopt cats in Jackson County, with the shelter's rate of adoption declining over the past five years.

From 2001 to 2005, cat adoptions have dropped from 28 percent to 21 percent, while the number of felines killed has increased from 65 percent to 71 percent, according to shelter statistics. Through November 2006, 17 percent of cats have been adopted and 76 percent euthanized. By comparison, of the 49,698 cats that went to shelters statewide in 2005, 47 percent were euthanized.

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Shelter Director Colleen Macuk acknowledged that the shelter has one of the highest euthanasia rates in the state. She said it is difficult to find owners for all the cats while dealing with an explosion in the number of feral felines. "I'm the first to say our rates are way up there because of the overpopulation problem," she said.

Unlike other organizations, the shelter takes in all cats, regardless of whether they are sick or feral, with the net result that most are euthanized.

"If people would spay and neuter and put (identification) on them, we wouldn't have this dilemma," she said.

Macuk said the goal of the shelter is to adopt out as many cats as possible in good homes and appropriate situations.

In one case recently, shelter volunteers said a prospective owner had concealed that he wanted the two cats he adopted to live in his barn. The cats eventually died.

Macuk said the shelter didn't want to release a kitten to the Potters because neither of the two they were considering had been fixed. Also, kittens that are used to being indoors sometimes wander off looking for another home if they are not acclimated to living in a barn.

Jeanie Kimball, vice president of the Friends of the Animal Shelter, told commissioners Wednesday that both the cats and prospective owners are evaluated to make sure the felines are being adopted into the right situations.

She said that when Rachel Potter was trying to decide between two kittens, Kimball recalled Potter's husband saying, "What difference does it make? It's going to be in the barn."

That comment raised red flags for the volunteers, who put much effort into raising the kittens and finding a good home. She also said it's rare to find a cat that would be suitable for a barn.

"We're not saying Mr. Potter wouldn't provide a good home for a cat," she said.

Al Beatty, one of the volunteers and adoption counselors, told commissioners Wednesday there is a great deal of effort that goes into properly placing cats and kittens.

"They deserve to go into permanent, loving homes," he said.

As an example of the research that goes into placing a cat, volunteers make calls to determine whether landlords allow renters to have pets, he said.

Rachel Potter said she and her husband made every effort to reassure the shelter that they would be responsible pet owners and alleviate volunteers' concerns over placing the cat in a barn. "That's absurd," she said. "We asked them, 'Would you like to call our vet? Would you like to come to our home?' "

She said they realized when they wanted to adopt a kitten that they would have to get it used to the barn before they let it wander their small ranch that has three horses, one steer and two cats.

She said the shelter didn't give any other options. "They didn't say why don't you give us an adult cat."

Kimball said the shelter did inform the Potters about other places in the county where they might find a barn cat.

Macuk said many of the shelter's cats are used to living close to humans and have "needy" personalities that require a lot of attention.

Referring to Michael Potter, Macuk said, "We truly regret we couldn't find a solution for him."

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.