H-3 nuzzled into the nook of Cindy Willoughby’s neck and purred when Willoughby picked up the fuzzy white cat to play with her.

“This is the kind of personality we like,” Willoughby said. “You play with them, and they purr and always want attention.”

H-3 was the white cat’s identification at Sangamon County Animal Control. But H-3 is now known as Julia, and she and 24 other cats now are slated to be show cats and, with just a little more luck, to get — literally — new leases on life.

With the help of three local women, the 25 Animal Control cats will compete this weekend at the 43rd Annual Illinois Feline Fanciers Cat Show at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The goal is to exhibit the cats in hopes of finding homes for all.

Willoughby and Jan Miller, both of Springfield, started showing cats from Animal Control in 2004 as a fluke when the cat show, which they helped organize, had extra openings.

Four years and 11 shows later, the women, now joined by Brenda Rauscher of Chatham, have adopted out 93 cats and kittens through the show.

Although Sangamon County Animal Control has a large selection of kittens that would adopt easily, Willoughby and Miller target a different cat population.

“We try to take ‘death row’ (cats),” Willoughby said. “This is basically their last chance to go out the front door. Otherwise, they will go out the back door in a plastic bag.”

But being on death row also means a cat they select may not make it to show day.

On Thursday, Willoughby, Rauscher and Miller met at Animal Control to check on the 25 cats picked the previous week as show entrants. Eight of the cats already were gone — one had been adopted, but seven had been euthanized.

Animal Control director Greg Largent said he takes in an average of about 10 cats every day. The adoption rate is less than two cats a day. With numbers like that, not every cat can stay.

Largent said he appreciates the women’s efforts.

“We didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain, and it’s gotten us some positive exposure in the community,” he said. “We just always have more cats than we can house and than we can find homes for.”

Although the group’s cause is noble, it does not come without a cost.

Willoughby said their group, Saving Animal Control Kitties, has established a network of donors throughout the community and cat world who subsidize the cost of show registration, preparation and transportation costs. Registrations average around $30 a cat. Some generous donors will even pay the $108 adoption cost, even though they can’t take the cats, Willoughby said.

Kathryn Cline of Southern View is part of that network. For the upcoming show, Cline, who also works with the Animal Protective League, has collected 20 registrations.

“With this, you can save a life for $30,” Cline said. “It’s almost a shoo-in that everybody gets a home.”

Willoughby said the group doesn’t need more donations for this show, but they will gladly accept contributions for future shows. She said more donors would be particularly helpful because the group has started going to more than just the two local shows each year.

Being cat enthusiasts, Miller and Willoughby also show their own pets, but over time, the rewards have changed.

“For me, it’s almost more rewarding to take these guys and get them adopted rather than the awards my cats get,” Miller said.

Andrea Zimmerman can be reached through the State Journal-Register metro desk at (217) 788-1519.

How to sponsor a pound cat

You can submit donations through the group’s Web site, www.jabocats.com/sack/pets, or mail a check to Cindy Willoughby, 3500 N. Dirksen Parkway, #15, Springfield, IL 62702.