“I’ve had a total of 23 cats.”

Julie Harris of Gloucester, became a foster pet parent, or “pawrent,” last July for the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society, and has since welcomed 23 cats or kittens into her home, spanning 202 days of foster care.

“I needed something to do in retirement,” said Harris. She retired from Page Middle School in 2022 after serving in the front office there for 30 years.

“Do I get attached,” said Harris. “Absolutely.”

Since July, Harris has taken in cat Mama Iris and her three kittens which were four weeks and four days old when she fostered them, five kittens which were three weeks and three days old with no mother and four kittens found in the trash.

Out of these four kittens, one was found with a spinal injury, possibly due to having been tossed in the trash. “Tinsel” stayed with Harris for 63 days and will forever have a wonky walk. He was placed with Richmond Animal League in Chesterfield, under the name “Chupacabra,” to give him a better ch...