The considerable number of lost cat signs that are posted around town may seem sad, but each notice also represents a great and joyous opportunity. You see, the Denver Dumb Friends League is overcrowded with cats. It's standing room only, and the pussies are pissed! So, if cats have shelters filled to capacity, yet are nowhere to be found in the neighborhoods, maybe it's time for the Dumb Friends League to set up a Copy-cat® Home-matching Service... I'm not suggesting here that all cats are alike. They differ greatly in the number of mice they drag home to deposit on their caregiver's pillow. However, I am suggesting that the Dumb Friends League might be able to reduce the numbers of cats in their shelter if they would just send an intern out to bicycle through Denver neighborhoods and make some cold calls on the phone numbers written on all of the city's missing pet signs.

Clearly the person who wrote the sign pictured above is willing to open his or her home to a cat. The weathered paper hints that some time has passed, and that cat and caregiver are aware that they will need to get reacquainted. Whether it is with each other, or very nearly real facsimiles of each other.

Until then, cats over six years of age are available for adoption at no cost during CatFest. The event takes place at the shelter, located at 2080 South Quebec Street in Denver, on July 10, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is summer's most important event to find a lost feline or a suitable copy cat.