Kitsap Humane Society will honor founding Director Almeda Wilson and founding Board Member William Mahan by dedicating its newly constructed cattery to the two influential founders.

The 99-year-old Wilson will attend the ceremony along with Mahan’s daughter, Kathy, who will stand in for her later father, who died in 2006. Current board members and staff will also be in attendance.

The new facility houses up to 42 cats. According to Kelly Michaels, Kitsap Humane Society’s marketing director, it’s almost always full. It has been in use since its completion in 2011.

“The Cattery has more than doubled the living space for each cat, including room for them to stretch,” said Jen Stonequist, director of shelter medicine, in a press release.

Eric Stevens, interim executive director said the new cattery is located away from the noisy main kennel.

“The cats have natural lighting and windows for the first time,” Stevens said.

According to Stevens and Stonequist, the cattery is warmer and more comfortable than the cats’ former living space, and greatly reduces the environmental stress placed on animals already stressed by their situation.

Kitsap Humane Society is a non-profit open admission shelter. It rescues, rehabilitates and rehouse all types of domestic animals, even livestock and exotic pets.

It was originally founded in 1908, but dissolved shortly after World War II. The population in and surrounding Bremerton had expanded greatly during the war, and by the 1950s, stray animals had become a critical problem in the area, according to Wilson.

She succeeded in reopening the shelter in 1961. The current shelter location was constructed in 1989.

In 2012, Kitsap Humane Society took in 2,301 cats and homed 2,037. Its veterinarians also performed 2,279 spay/neuter surgeries for cats, including 1,000 for low-income pet owners.

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend the cattery dedication ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at noon.