Feral cats in the South Okanagan may soon have a new opportunity for a forever home through Critteraid Animal Sanctuary's program aimed at finding homes for felines that don't fit in a normal home.

"So the barn cat program will be for us to be able to safely house and isolate cats that aren't set up for home environments, and we can adopt them right from here," said Jess Byer, Critteraid animal director.

They are building a small barn with an outdoor portion on the Critteraid lands so that outdoor cats who aren't necessarily the cuddly, indoors types will have a place at their sanctuary while they wait to find a placement. Byer said ideal forever homes for these kinds of cats could be vineyards or farms.

"We're looking for wonderful new barn homes where they can go to work and help keep rodent populations down in a safe way, and we're just looking at helping get the ferals off the street," Byer said. 

Critteraid is currently looking for windows, doors, siding and insulation to get their barn up to an all-weather standard ahead of moving cats in. Byer said the shelter will be ideal for chronically outdoor cats.

"The cats won't have the same interaction with people. Some of them may be more friendly, but we'll assess that as they come in."

For more information on Critteraid or to donate to their projects, click here.