DECEMBER 17, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A6
Feline shelter reaches
milestone in adoptions
By BEE FLINT
Of the Keizertimes
Salem Friends of Felines (SFOF), a
shelter for stray cats, recently adopted out
their 17,000th cat which was a one-eyed
kitten named Pokey. Pokey was also their
first spay and eye removal surgery in their
brand new on-site surgical suite.
The suite offers spays and neuters, eye
removals, and limb amputations to cats
and kittens in their adoption program.
Opening an on-site surgical suite has
been a dream for the organization since
they opened in 2004 and executive direc-
tor, Chelsey Marks, is happy to finally see it
become a reality.
“One immediate benefit we've seen is
that the cats and kittens don't have to be
so stressed during travel to and from vet
clinics across town for their surgeries. Now
they just wake up in a warm recovery condo,
wrapped in a soft blanket, monitored by a
caring vet assistant with no travel needed,”
Marks said.
Although the new suite has been help-
ful, the process of opening it brought up a
few challenges for the organization.
Marks felt that the supply chain issues
during the COVID pandemic caused the
organization to struggle in getting the
necessary medical supplies and veterinary
equipment required to provide high-qual-
ity surgeries.
“COVID has really pushed SFOF and
myself to open this surgery suite quicker,
because of all the backlog at local vet hos-
pitals we've not always been able to get
our adoption and foster program kitties
spayed or neutered in a timely fashion and
now this surgery suite has helped tremen-
dously,” she said.
Through all of the challenges with the
pandemic, Salem Friends of Felines leaned
on the community and volunteers for their
support.
“We're getting through it with lots of
community support, our amazing volun-
teers and very dedicated team working
daily to provide the best care we can for the
cats and kittens,” Marks said.
Marks specifically wanted to thank the
Willamette Humane Society, VCA Keizer
Veterinary Hospital, Santiam Equine/
Cordon Road Vet and Woodburn/Sequoia
Veterinary Clinic who all took on extra
surgeries to help Salem Friends of Felines
during the transition.
Salem Friends of Felines has currently
done over 50 spay and neuter surgeries in
the new suite.
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Keizer man to be
featured on
The Price is Right
Bowers
It took 10 years but Dusty Bowers
of Keizer finally got called to ‘come on
down’ on CBS-TV’s long-running game
show, The Price is Right.
Bowers, a 2005 graduate of McNary
High School, went to see a taping of
the show 10 years ago with his friend,
Jeremy Green, who was a contestant
on the show ; Bowers didn’t make it on
camera in 2011.
On Monday, Dec. 20, Bowers will
appear as a contestant on The Price is
Right. It will air at 10 a.m. on KOIN-TV
channel 6. After that it will be available
on CBS.com and then on Paramount+
on demand.
Wanting to be part of the 50th anni-
versary season of The Price is Right,
Bower’s friend, Jeremy, got an inter-
view to be a Christmas-themed show
and was chosen. He was able to bring
up to four guests to the taping. Several
shows are taped at one time. Luckily for
Bowers, there were not enough people
in the audience for the second taping
and they were asked to stay to fill out
the audience.
When he was called to come on
down to be the next contestant, Bowers
said he and his friends hugged each
other and jumped around. “It seemed
like we were jumping for about three
minutes, but it was actually mere sec-
onds. It was so fun,” he said.
Sworn to offer no spoilers, Bowers
did not say if he got on stage, if he won
any prizes or got to spin the Showcase
Showdown wheel. To find out what
happens, tune in on Monday, Dec. 20
at 10 a.m.
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