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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Lake-Lehman High School seniors Lacey Carey and Jade Fry were hard to miss as they greeted the long line of guests at Rodano&#8217;s on Public Square on Sunday.</p><p>Both girls wore t-shirts that they designed themselves with a picture of a cat along with the words &#8220;Prevent a litter. Fix your critter.&#8221;</p><p>They are volunteers with Whiskers World Inc., a local nonprofit organization that rescues abandoned, abused, injured and stray cats, and finds homes for them. Volunteers also take care of the cats and spay and neuter them.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s so many cats out there that aren&#8217;t fixed, and the overpopulation of cats is ridiculous,&#8221; said Carey. &#8220;So many cats are dying because there&#8217;s not enough people to care for them.&#8221;</p><p>The two friends were selling the T-shirts for $12 to $14 at the &#8220;Pizza for Paws&#8221; fundraiser held at Rodano&#8217;s to raise money for the expenses that go along with the over 200 cats that the organization is responsible for.</p><p>Fry said $2,000 has been raised so far just from the sale of the T-shirts, which was more than expected.</p><p>Whiskers World runs solely on donations and public fundraisers and money is needed for vet care, medicine, grooming, food and neutering.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a huge expense,&#8221; said Whiskers World President Brenda Buckler.</p><p>She founded the organization in 2015 along with fellow cat lover Donna Fountain, who serves as vice president. The group spays 25 cats per week.</p><p>Both Buckler and Fountain have a soft spot for animals because they grew up with many different pets in their homes.</p><p>&#8220;I had every animal &#8212; a chinchilla, turtles, dogs, cats,&#8221; Fountain said with a laugh.</p><p>&#8221;I think it&#8217;s something that&#8217;s in us,&#8221; said Buckler. &#8220;We just have a compassion.&#8221;</p><p>Fountain said she devotes her time and effort to this cause simply &#8220;because nobody else will.&#8221;</p><p>She also said that there is a serious problem of abandoned cats in the area, noting that some people just leave their cats behind if they move to another home or put them in a dumpster if they can&#8217;t take care of them.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re throwing these animals away like garage,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Buckler said that at least 200 people attended Sunday&#8217;s fundraiser, which included food, music and raffle baskets as well.</p><p>Whiskers World will be holding its next fundraising event on March 18 at the Warrior Run Fire Hall in Warrior Run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ttl021918pawsforpizza-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Volunteer Jade Fry, 17 of Harvey&#8217;s Lake folds shirts that were on sale duing the benefit Sunday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ttl021918pawsforpizza-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Volunteer Jade Fry, 17 of Harvey&#8217;s Lake folds shirts that were on sale duing the benefit Sunday afternoon. </caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ttl021918pizzafoepaws-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lisa and Fred Risch and Judy Hartman of Dallas fill out raffle tickets during a cat benefit event Sunday afternoon at Rodano&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ttl021918pizzafoepaws-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Lisa and Fred Risch and Judy Hartman of Dallas fill out raffle tickets during a cat benefit event Sunday afternoon at Rodano&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1>Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ttl021918pizzaforpaws-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Al Keefe of Forty Fort looks over different raffle baskets during &#8220;Pizza for Paws&#8221; a benefit fundraiser for Whiskers World Inc. at Rodano&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre Sunday afternoon.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_ttl021918pizzaforpaws-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Al Keefe of Forty Fort looks over different raffle baskets during &#8220;Pizza for Paws&#8221; a benefit fundraiser for Whiskers World Inc. at Rodano&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre Sunday afternoon.  </caption2><photoCredit2>Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Kulsoom Khan</p><p>kkhan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

‘Pizza for Paws’ draws hundreds