NATCHEZ —Natchez’s streets look like it literally rains cats and dogs. Stray cats and dogs are on almost every street.

But the animals’ alternatives to living on the streets aren’t much better.

“The Humane Society is way overcrowded,” said Lori Brown, office manager at Natchez Veterinary Clinic. “Thousands of animals are euthanized here every year.”

Pat Cox, shelter manager for the board of the Humane Society of Natchez Adams County said, in just two weeks 143 different animals have come to the facility.

As a concerned citizen and animal lover Brown is in the process of organizing a cookbook that she will sell to raise funds for the humane society.

“The funds will go toward the daily operation of the facility,” Cox said.

The book will be a composition of submitted recipes, pet pictures and memorial pictures. Brown will first collect funds on her own, then donate profits to the animal shelter.

“A couple of my recipes will be in the book, my favorite is my kitty litter cat box cake,” Brown said. “You actually put it in a real litterbox and use a clean poopscooper to serve it.”

Margaret Hill, who has a few adopted pets and is an advocate for animal rights submitted her recipe for Toonce’s Tuna.

“It’s just simple tuna salad, but my cat Toonce always comes around when I am making it,” Hill said with a laugh. “I’ll be buying several of the books to use as Christmas presents this year.”

The money from the cookbooks is not only going to help the humane society afford to make more space for animals, but it will also help provide their animals with better care, Hill said.

Although the book isn’t complete yet Brown would like to make the fundraiser an annual event.

“I need about 100 more recipes, but the more people send in their recipes, the less work I’ll have to do next year,” Brown said. “It would be really nice to have some more bread, roll and biscuit recipes.”

The cookbook will be a great way to raise awareness and money for the humane society, but it will also be a lot of fun, Brown said.

Both Brown and Hill said that spaying and neutering pets is the best way to avoid other animals’ untimely deaths.

People who would like to send in recipes or pictures of their pets are encouraged to send them to, Cookbook, 404 Brooklyn Drive Natchez, MS 39120.

“When the books come out they will probably cost $18 or $20,” Brown said.

Cox said that while the funds from the cookbooks will help the to day to day operations at the humane society they still need more donations to build a new building. The current shelter is a state of disrepair.

“We currently have around $60,000 but we need $250,000 to complete the new construction,” Cox said. “We really need the room for all the animals we take in.”