From rescue cat to barn cat: an uncommon path
“ I don’ t even have a number on my house,” he says with a chuckle.“ People see my porch, with all the traps and carriers, and they know they’ re in the right place.”
In 2022, the adventures of one curious Poolesville cat unwittingly transformed the budding effort to help our local felines. When Denise Habib, a retired librarian, learned that her cat Gizmo had wandered off and needed to be extracted from a yard on the other side of town, Garner stepped in to help. Deeply grateful, she helped him turn the informal Poolesville Cats into an organized nonprofit with the ability to receive taxdeductible donations. Habib took on the role of Adoption and Foster Coordinator, while Theresa Jones, a neighbor with a background in adoption and caregiving, joined as Treasurer, alongside several enthusiastic board members who gladly share their talents and time.
Since becoming a nonprofit, Poolesville Cats has altered its overall approach. The team no longer releases cats after spaying or neutering them. Instead, volunteers foster them while they await proper, permanent homes— but only after the team gets a sense of each new arrival.
“ Every cat trapped is a mystery,” Habib says.“ Is it friendly? Is it male or female? What medical attention does it need?”
Few cats, Garner believes, are truly feral, and he finds that most can become socialized to humans with four or five months of fostering.“ We have a couple of fosters who are cat whisperers for‘ spicy’ cats,” Jones observes. Poolesville Cats charges no adoption fees, but donations are always welcome, and
humans hoping to make a new feline friend are carefully vetted to make sure they match a cat’ s unique temperament and needs.
Garner is fiercely loyal to the cats of Poolesville, so Poolesville Cats alumni enjoy rare and special privileges. A volunteer monitors activity at countywide shelters, so when a local cat is trapped and taken to a facility outside the area, someone from Poolesville Cats will go get it, which takes a little pressure off an already overcrowded shelter.“ We go down there and pull them,” Garner says.“ A Poolesville cat is our first priority.”
Likewise, if a former Poolesville cat is found wandering or loses its caretaker, Poolesville Cats will welcome it home. Garner recently drove to Pennsylvania to retrieve a former Poolesville cat whose owner adored it but could no longer care for it. Lifetime benefits, Garner insists, are part
From rescue cat to barn cat: an uncommon path
Many of us romanticize the lives of barn cats, imagining that they enjoy a freedom unknown to their housebound counterparts while doing important farm work simply by being themselves. Richard Garner, President of Poolesville Cats, is quick to point out that only certain cats— and certain farmers— are cut out for the barn cat life. He’ s particularly eager to dispel the myth that barn cats should be left to fend for themselves.
“ They have excellent hunting instincts, but you’ ve got to feed barn cats and make sure they have reliable food and water,” he explains.“ That makes them feel secure and want to stay. And then they become very good mousers.”
So far, Poolesville Cats has placed only four cats in barns around the Agricultural Reserve, but they’ ve done so with caution.“ We monitor the cats in the cages on the farm for two to three
When it works, it works: Poolesville weeks,” says Poolesville Cats board member Theresa Jones.“ This gives them the Cats alumni Nacho and Hombre have been happy, hardworking barn cats necessary time to become acclimated to since November 2025. their new surroundings until we feel the cat is ready to be released.”
“ We also study the individual to see what kind of mind they’ ve got,” adds Garner, who grins when it becomes clear he’ s talking about the farmer, not the cat.“ We want to see what kind of life they’ re going to give the cat. A healthy farm cat keeps the rodent population down, but it’ s a rare option for the cats we rescue.” plenty I autumn harvest 2026 37