WINTHROP — A new fundraiser for PALS no-kill animal shelter means felines soon will be strutting their stuff on the catwalk.

The shelter on Case Road, which caters only to cats, plans to build a Walk of Honor consisting of engraved pavers that now are being sold to help cover the cost of the shelter’s operation and a recent expansion.

The paver walkway will replace a grass court that the cats enjoy.

The shelter will use the pavers to replace the existing grass walkway that is next to the exterior patio, or “catio,” that the cats use to get fresh air. Plans also call for benches along the walkway.

“Since this grass area is confined between a chain-link fence, the catio and the PALS building, it is difficult to maintain and it currently provides habitat for ticks,” said Paul Lariviere, the shelter’s vice president.

Lariviere said of the paver campaign, “It’s a fundraiser, but it also does something worth doing,”

Liam Hughes, director of the state’s Animal Welfare Program, said PALS’ commitment to keeping animals alive mirrors that of shelters around the state. That commitment is evident in the shelter’s euthanasia rate, which has dropped from 27 percent in 2011 to just 8 percent in 2014. The percentage of cats euthanized in Maine over the same period has dropped from 34 percent to 11 percent.

The adoption rate for dogs and cats in the state has increased from 59 percent in 2011 to 75 percent in 2014. The number for cats during that same period has risen from 61 percent to 76 percent.

Ninety percent of all animals that entered a Maine shelter last year were released through adoption, reclamation or transfer.

“The numbers look really good,” Hughes said. “We have such a great live-release rate. That’s because of all the hard work shelters have been doing.”

Shelters continue to stress efforts to educate the public on spaying and neutering their pets. The Help Fix Me program, which helps low-income pet owners cover the costs of the procedures, also has paid off in fewer feral animals. Hughes said the website spaymaine.org has a list of spay and neuter programs.

Despite the success of those programs, Hughes said, the state continues to deal with feral cats. Shelters and animal protection groups have worked to raise awareness of the cats.

“These cats have been there all along,” Hughes said. “They’re just becoming more noticeable.”

He said a program of catching the cats, neutering them and then returning them to the wild has been successful, but it has to be managed properly, and the community has to be committed to the program.

“They have to want to work with these cats,” Hughes said. “Once you cut off the supply of all these kittens, you notice the population of these cats decline.”

Hughes stressed the importance of licensing dogs and microchipping animals so they can be found if they run off. He said vaccinations, particularly against rabies, are vital.

“We still have a problem with rabies in the state,” Hughes said. “It’s far easier to prevent rabies than it is to try to treat it.”

The PALS shelter in Winthrop, which is purely supported by donations and its endowment, usually has 70 to 150 cats waiting to be adopted. It averages about 20 adoptions per month.

Lariviere said the operating budget is about $150,000 per year, which includes the salaries of three full-time and two part-time employees, veterinary care, utilities and other expenses associated with the building. The fundraiser will help cover those costs as well as help pay off an addition to the shelter built 18 months ago.

The shelter has been creative in augmenting its budget. It relies heavily on a team of volunteers who do everything from helping keep the place clean to socializing the cats so they are ready to go into a home, said Brenda Poulin, the shelter’s senior animal care technician.

“We don’t usually turn down any volunteers,” she said. “We really do rely on the volunteers a lot.”

The shelter also has a sponsorship program that allows people to adopt a cat at the shelter without taking the cat into their homes. The shelter sends the sponsors a picture of the cat and regular progress reports and additional pictures chronicling the animal’s life at the shelter. There are about 30 sponsors who help support 35 cats, Poulin said.

“It’s actually worked really well,” she said.

Lariviere said the shelter has some long-term residents that, for various reasons, have not been adopted. Regardless, the shelter is committed to keeping those cats alive and allowing them to enjoy a life in the shelter that includes plenty of plush beds and toys, as well as freedom to go outside onto the catio and walkway. Cats are euthanized only if they are terminally ill or if they are injured too badly to be rescued.

“We don’t want the cats to suffer,” Lariviere said.

For more information about PALS paver fundraiser, call 395-4274 or search PALS No Kill Cat Shelter on Facebook.

The shelter needs to sell about 2,830 bricks to complete the walkway, which covers 650 square feet. Selling all those bricks will take some time, perhaps years, so in the meantime the shelter will augment the engraved pavers with cheaper blank versions to complete the walkway by the Sept. 19 Family Fun Day. The shelter will continue to accept orders for engraved pavers each spring and fall until all the pavers are sold. The blank pavers will be replaced with the engraved versions.

PALS is selling 4-inch-by-8-inch bricks for $75 and 8-inch-by-8-inch bricks for $150. The bricks can be engraved with messages to honor people or pets or any other message that can be fit into three lines, each of which must be 15 characters or fewer.

Lariviere said the shelter will buy the bricks from an Idaho-based company that has been around for nearly 30 years. The company has a reputation for quality engraving, he said.

“They’ve never had one of their bricks lose the lettering,” Lariviere said. “The white never pops out.”

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

[email protected]

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4