Poquoson Animal Welfare Sanctuary does great work, and it does it all with a group of dedicated volunteers.

Lori Cawley hit the nail on the head in our Dec. 11 edition when she told correspondent Cathy Welch that the overpopulation and feral cat population is not an animal problem — it’s a people problem.

Indeed, pet owners who fail to get their cats and dogs sterilized, and those who simply discard animals rather than taking them to a proper facility when they are unable to care for them, are to blame.

People like the PAWS volunteers are helping to counteract that. Barbara Holloway started PAWS with a piece of property on Messick Road and a heart for helping cats. Now, 72 volunteers are helping to run the organization, which facilitates spaying and neutering, feeds cats at its facility and in feral cat colonies, helps people who can’t afford to feed their own cats and coordinates fostering and adoptions.

PAWS gets two paws up from us.