Lycoming Animal Protection Society (LAPS)
Sheltering and Protecting Cats
For More Than 40 Years

There are many wayward cats that wander the streets and byways of Lycoming County. For more than 40 years one organization has been trying to make life better for these wandering felines through sheltering them and finding good homes for them. That organization is the Lycoming Animal Protection Society, Inc., also known as LAPS — a no-kill feline shelter and adoption center which serves Lycoming County and surrounding counties.

This non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization helps to provide housing, food and medical care for homeless and surrendered cats, as well as working toward finding them permanent loving homes through its adoption program. At any given time, LAPS has an average of about 85 resident cats. Most reside at the shelter, although kittens who are too young to be vaccinated and other cats who need extra medical care live in foster homes.

LAPS has an amazing group of dedicated volunteers who do a variety of work within the organization. Every day, there are teams who go in to provide love and attention, food and water, give medications as needed, scoop litter boxes, and clean. Volunteers take the cats for veterinary care, some spearhead their fundraisers, and a board of directors works behind the scenes to keep the business of the organization running.

Since its inception in the early 1970s, LAPS has had several ‘homes.’ For the past 12 years, LAPS has rented a facility at 195 Phillips Park Drive in South Williamsport. Due to the building owner’s plans to demolish the facility, all of the tenants have been asked to relocate. LAPS must now find a new home.

Over the past couple years, LAPS has been dreaming of owning its own facility. A Building Committee was appointed to try to locate a suitable location. After touring several available properties, one that fulfills most requirements was finally located in Williamsport. However, it needs to be converted into a cat shelter, a process that will take three to four months after the building is purchased. A condition that needs to be met before the purchase of the building is obtaining a zoning permit, which will require a variance. A scheduled zoning hearing was postponed due to the closure of Williamsport municipal offices. LAPS officials hope that a permit will be obtained in the near future, and the LAPS building plans can be set into motion.

Unfortunately, LAPS’s current landlord, Hutchinson Realty Development, Inc., has a timetable for its need for the Phillips Park Drive building in which LAPS is the last remaining tenant. According to LAPS officials, although the landlord has been very generous and helpful in its offers for other space, nothing that is available meets either LAPS’ space requirements or the zoning ordinances of the City of Williamsport.

LAPS does not house its cats in individual cages except for health needs or unusual behavior characteristics. The cats live in rooms or compounds which are usually shared by four to eight cats.

The proposed new facility will have at least 25 rooms, an isolation area, a meeting or “get acquainted” area, a treatment room, and a clean-up area with an over-sized sink, washer and dryer among other amenities.

“One of the things that impresses me the most about LAPS is that the cats have rooms to live in, instead of pens or crates. In each room, there are cat trees that were built especially for LAPS as a Girl Scout project, toddler beds, or other furniture for the cats to either view their world from or hide in or under, depending on the cat,” Cyndi Mussina, one of LAPS’s active and dedicated volunteers, told Webb Weekly.

There is a gap in the time schedule between when the cats must be moved from their home in South Williamsport until the new facility will be ready. Therefore, LAPS is seeking caring and responsible people to foster the LAPS cats in their homes for a period of up to six months. These cats are up to date on their vaccines, have been tested for FIV and FeLV, and will be treated for fleas before going to a foster home. LAPS will provide food and litter for the fostered cats and will pay for veterinary care if needed. LAPS cats are exclusively indoor cats.

“LAPS has cats with all different personalities: playful, loving, mischievous, shy, relaxed, you name it! It’s an adventure getting to know them. Each week, when I go in to work my shift, I learn new things about even our long-term residents. I joke that I fall in love with a different cat every week,” says Mussina, describing the cats needing temporary foster homes.

If you are interested in helping LAPS during its relocation, please contact LAPS at LapsShelter@windstream.net to request an application to foster.