More than a dozen kittens took over a downtown store Friday in an effort to raise awareness about the growing number of stray cats in the City.

“We have a very bad cat over population crisis right now,” explained Stacy Worobetz, volunteer executive director with Whisker Rescue, a no-kill organization of volunteers who foster stray cats and find them permanent homes.

Decadent cupcakes were sold for two dollars to raise money for the organization. All the money raised is going toward spaying and neutering cats at the shelter.

“Spaying and neutering will help out with this problem,” Worobetz said, adding on average about 15 to 20 people try to surrender their cats to the organization each day.

“I don’t think the average person knows how bad it is. I think you see the odd little kitty here and there and think it’s not overwhelming but pretty much all rescues right now are overwhelmed with how many strays there are.”

Vicki Finlay owns the home decor store Junktiques where the fundraiser took place. She helped organize the event.

“A lot of my customers are volunteers at Whisker,” she said. “I also have a lot of cats that I have rescued. I’m a crazy cat lady. I love cats and I sell a lot of cat things here. We just decided to get together and see if we could promote Whisker Rescue and raise some money and get some information out there.”

Many Red Deerians attended the event to support the cause and cuddle with the fluffy kittens. Cat lover Alyson Skarra said she came out to support Whisker Rescue.

“A spay and neutering program would be an awesome idea to help reduce the number of strays,” she said.