DURHAM — A surge in cats and kittens this month has pushed the feline population above the Durham County animal shelter’s capacity. The Animal Protection Society of Durham, which runs the shelter, sent out the alert to let people know it had cut adoption fees for cats and kittens from $95 to $10 today and Saturday to try to save more of them.

In a story I'm writing for tomorrow's N&O, shelter officials say as of this morning 165 cats and kittens had come into the shelter on Club Boulevard this month, a 16 percent increase from the number that came in during the same period last August. And that was on top of 190 cats and kittens that came in during July.

"It was a very difficult decision,” director Shafonda Davis Price says of lowering the adoption fee. The $95 fee normally helps cover the spay or neuter surgery, rabies shot and other medical care that adopted animals get before they go to their new home. “Instead of deciding which 40 cats we’re going to put to sleep, [we asked] what can we do to get people in here,” Davis Price says.

The Animal Protection Society of Durham is located at 2117 E. Club Blvd. in Durham. The shelter is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and visitation with animals ends at 1:30 p.m. Call 919-560-0640 for more information.

mark.schultz@newsobserver.com or 919-932-2003