The Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter is preparing for another adoption event next weekend, but this time around it has become more personal to Paulette Walton.

Walton, part of the Friends of the shelter, said she recently fostered a black kitten who contracted ammonia, whom she has named Colt.

“I do not think the kitten would have survived in the shelter,” she said.

She said the responsibility to take care of the dozens of animals in Carter County falls onto the shoulders of a small staff who often do not have the resources to take care of many of the more ill animals they come across.

On her own, Walton has had to syringe-feed him, provide cleaner air for him to breathe easier and much more.

“It was very rewarding,” she said. “When you foster an animal, they do help people.”

The overpopulation at the shelter is part of the reason why volunteers are having to tend the animals themselves.

“It is my passion,” she said. “Now I see I can make a difference.”

Colt still does not play like eight-week-old kittens should, but Walton said he finally meowed just the other day, and she waits eagerly for the day when Colt feels well enough to play.

“[These animals] are exposed to the cold,” she said of the shelter’s conditions. “If people could foster and adopt, this is a good time to get them out of there.”

She said volunteers work hard to provide the best possible care for the animals, but the sheer number of them makes the necessary one-on-one care for animals like Colt difficult.

“They cannot give them one-on-one time,” she said.

The adoption event will take place between Thursday, Nov. 21, through Monday, Nov. 25. The shelter will even hold special hours Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Adult animal adoption fees will be $10, while puppies and kittens will go for $20.

For more information about the shelter or potential adoptions, contact the shelter at 135 Sycamore Drive, or by phone at 423-547-6359.

“They care so much about keeping these animals alive,” Walton said. “Getting people to come in and help is so important.”