A group of prison employees began taking care of kittens after they "broke in" to the facility in New York, WNYT reported.
Workers at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Fort Ann discovered the felines a few months ago and have chipped in to take care of them ever since.
The Granville Veterinary Clinic has offered treatment at low cost and the state has covered food and medicine when funds don't cover it, according to Jeffrey Lindstand, deputy superintendent of administration.
Bruce Porter, an electrician and the kittens' primary caretaker, even arrives for his shift one hour early to tend to their needs.
"I've got a soft heart for any sort of animal. I don't mind helping them out a bit," Porter said.
Each kitten has been named after the prison and surrounding area: there's Doc (Department of Correctional Services), Comstock (the location of the prison), Annie (Fort Ann), and Meadow (Great Meadow).
In addition, their so-called "kitty condo" was created by an inmate and is kept in a maintenance area. The inmate, nicknamed the "cat whisperer," reportedly takes car of them over the weekend when prison employees aren't working.
"He loves them to death," Porter said.
The New York prison is following the guidelines of the Trap, Neuter and Release program, encouraged by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in order to stabilize the cat population.
"You try and catch the cats, then you take them to a vet and have them treated and make sure everything's OK with them and return them back to their area, with the exception of the kittens, where if you can get a suitable adoption we then adopt them out," Lindstand said. "There's no extermination of them, no getting rid of them. If one were so sick that the vet said they had to be put down, that would be done, but we haven't run into that at all."
Prison officials said they're trying to find homes for the cats among employees.
