The cats at Charleston Animal Society, weren’t quite sure what was happening. All they could see were a team of people in bright orange shirts adding shelves and cool looking cubbies to the shelter’s cat adoption area. Little did the cats know, they were at ground zero for “Operation Catification.”
After hosting a training at the shelter in March, The Jackson Galaxy Project, a program of Greater Good Charities designed renovation plans for the cat spaces in Charleston Animal Society using its Operation Catification design principles. The renovation at Charleston Animal Society is made possible by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc and is being completed by Greater Good Charities’ Rescue Rebuild team. 
“Operation Catification is an initiative of The Jackson Galaxy Project that incorporates design principles to help achieve the ultimate in feline and human mojo, to help increase shelter visits and cat adoptions, but more importantly, it is part of a holistic approach to caring for cats in shelters,” said TV’s Cat Daddy Jackson Galaxy, who visited Charleston Animal Society while the project was underway.
According to Galaxy’s website, “Catification” is the art of making aesthetic and spatial changes and adjustments to a shelter (or your home) that meet the needs of both you and your cat.
Galaxy encourages people to create spaces that really satisfy your cat’s primal instincts and challenge them the way being outdoors does. Your cat’s instincts propel them to jump, perch, climb, play, sleep, eat, hunt, and ultimately, provide a complete feeling of confidence that comes with a sense of territorial ownership. 
Now cats at Charleston Animal Society have new shelves to jump on, cubbies to climb in, frosted glass for privacy and even shades that can be drawn when a cat is overstimulated in the shelter environment.
“Many adopters have told us how warm and friendly the catification has made them feel, as they’re visiting with our cats,” said Charleston Animal Society Chief Lifesaving Officer Pearl Sutton. “It’s been a joy to watch the cats play on the catwalk and snuggle in their new beds.”
The Jackson Galaxy Project is a program of Greater Good Charities that seeks to improve the lives of cats at risk and help the people who care for them through innovative initiatives that educate, inspire and empower staff, rescuers and adopters.
Operation Catification took about 10 days to complete and was led by the Rescue Rebuild team and local volunteers from the North Charleston area.
