It's "Recycle Cat!"

Dave e-mails Mr. Answer Person: (A local recycling guide says) cats are an important part of Winneshiek County's recycling operation. Do they mean a cat as in Caterpillar, or do they mean the animal?  And why?

Mr. Answer Person says: This "cat" is the four-legged kind.  It even has a name: "Ash."  And Ash is an important part of Winneshiek County's recycling operation because recycling centers, with all their material lying around, tend to attract mice and rats.  "Ash" does what comes naturally for a cat--hunting.

Ash the cat was owned by a former Freeport resident, Esther Houck, and given to Winneshiek County Recycling after Esther died.  

So while you might see "Ash" taking 40 winks during the daytime, at night Ash is on the prowl.  The result is a cleaner, safer recycling center--thanks to a four-legged employee