 |
| Sad Cat is Sad |
Cats are constantly being ignored. It's a sad, sad truth but just about any rescue would agree. Cats are always being ignored. Hop onto any legitimate rescue page and you'll clearly see dogs outnumbering cats. Even Facebook pages geared towards saving pets on death row like Pet Pardons and No Kill Ohio are primarily flooded with information on this dog or that dog that needs saved although cats are euthanized 10% more than dogs. Now, why is that?
- Over-excess of cats. A lot of shelters, rescues and community volunteers/ advocates are simply overwhelmed by the great number of cats in need. To focus on all of them is also to detract from all of them. Also, as more and more cats come flooding into shelters, others are euthanized to make room for them, so your higher volume shelters may only have a cat for three days which is hardly enough time to vet it, get it on the adoption floor and then adopted out.
- The ease of access to cats. This brings us to a couple of different problems, the first being that anyone can get a cat. Just take a look at all of the "free kitten" ads on Craigslist and you'll see what I mean. Anyone can get these cats whether they are responsible owners or not. This means no background checks, no vet checks, no ensuring that current cats are spayed/ neutered, so now, other intact felines may come into the home, reproduce and continue the cycle of unwanted kittens. The second issue (which will also lead us into our third point) is that many people will opt for the free Craigslist kitten when given the choice between them and a fully vetted, spayed/ neutered kitten with a fee.
- Lack of support for Rescues that work to save cats and kittens. As noted in our previous blog post about fees, it costs us about $90 to fully vet (FIV testing, boosters, rabies, wormer, flea treatment/ preventative, spaying/ neutering) a cat or kitten which does not include any extended care that they may need. When people opt out of adopting a rescue or shelter cat, they opt out of helping their local rescue or shelter in ending the cycle of pet-overpopulation. We are a very fortunate group to be able to take on the financial hardship of rescuing cats in spite of the fact that we lose money on our cat program annually. Our dog adoptions and donations from our true supporters are the only things offsetting the deficit to make our program successful. Other rescues simply do not have the resources to help out without that support via their fees.
So, the chips are stacked against us but we know we are going to break through this year by implementing Operation Meow! Operation Meow is our personal declaration to find homes for 1,000 cats for 2012! Last year we adopted out 626 cats, but with our main cat gal, Kelly, leading the charge, we KNOW we can accomplish the tremendous goal Jen D'Aurelio (our Executive Director) has set for us!
Operation Meow's primary goal is for finding homes for cats in need. That being said, we are hoping, whether successful or not, that just by leading this campaign we can help raise awareness of the real problem- the over-population of felines. And, of course, getting those 1,000 cats all spayed/ neutered will help cut the cycle of over-breeding so that we can help maintain the feline population's numbers which means less cats and kittens winding up at the shelter. Less shelter cats means less cats being euthanized which means more happy kitties! :)
 |
| Reproduction Rate of Unaltered Cats in a 16 Month Period |
How you can help:
- Share. Spread this post. The more people know, the more they can empower themselves to become responsible pet owners and to set a great example in their community.
- Adopt. When it comes time, always opt to adopt a rescue or shelter pet. You are not only saving that animal, you are helping to save all future animals that may find themselves in the same predicament. By supporting your local rescue and shelter, you are supporting all homeless and neglected animals in your area
- Advocate. Help find animals homes by sponsoring them online. Urgent Ohio Dogs (UOD) features dogs on the chopping block in Ohio in hopes someone will see them and adopt them, rather than letting them get to the alternative. Facebook's "share" button allows you to easily save photos and bios of dogs with everyone on your friends' list. The more exposure they get, the greater their chances are of being saved. UOD is currently working on an Urgent Ohio Cat page soon to be released as well! Nationally, you can advocate for Pet Pardons which posts dogs and cats on death row all throughout the United States (they are also operating in Canada now too).
- Volunteer. The more volunteers a rescue or shelter has, the more balanced the workload becomes for everyone. Essentially this means that everyone can focus more on finding the animals homes as others are chipping in to help with the daily upkeep, whether it be helping out with feeding, socialization and/ or exercise.
- Donate. As mentioned earlier, we are only able to have a cat program because of our wonderful supporters. Funds are extremely limited for animal rescue and we can only save what we monetarily are able to save. Whether donating to us or another worthy rescue/ shelter, you are directly benefiting the animals and giving rescues/ shelters the means to continue their wonderful work.
- Alter. Spay/ neuter those pets! Spunky may be fine now and may be an indoor pet, but when he escapes that one time, you don't know what he's doing... But we have a good idea! Also, neutering your males eliminates the chance of testicular cancer and greatly reduces the chances of prostate cancer. Spaying reduces or eliminates the chances of uterine or ovarian cancer as well as mammary tumors. For more info click here. One of a Kind Pets Spay and Neuter Clinic also offers a low-cost feral cat spay/ neuter package, which helps reduce the numbers of feral cat colonies that also drive up the feline population. If interested in learning more about One of a Kind Pets, click here.
As humans, it is our responsibility to help bring dignity and enrichment into the lives of all living creatures. Whether those creatures be neighbors that don't understand the responsibility of pet ownership, a feral cat colony that you could help catch and release to get spayed/ neutered or an animal on death row you could fight tooth and nail to find a new family for, you (and everyone else reading this) must take responsibility. In the end, there is not much to lose, but oh-so-much to gain! Whether we hit 1,000 cat adoptions this year, or not, we know that Operation Meow is going to be a huge success! :)
 |
| Betty says "Thank you!" She is currently up for adoption. Please visit PawsandPrayers.org for more info. |
6 comments:
Awesome post Alecia!!! Now, here's how I see it... I got spade to help with the over population of humans :) (I really did get spade though) so shouldn't everyone else who has a cat get them spade or neutered too?!?!
1,000 cats, we can do it!
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it's truly informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I will be grateful if you continue this in future. Numerous people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Blue Microphones Ringer Universal Shockmount for Ball Microphones
Thank you for the kind words, Irene. We will certainly be trying to maintain this blog for a long time. :)
Excellent blog and I applaud you for all your hard work on behalf of both cats aand dogs. Although you outline an excellent framework for what needs to be done you are leaving out one very important element, education. Unfortunately there is still a lot of misinformation regarding felines. Until this changes most people will regard cats as second class ciitizens to dogs. Even amongst rescues there is a lack of good solid knowledge of behavior and behavior modification in cats that also add to this continuous cycle. I recently had a conversation with dedicated rescue people that were encouraging a personn to return a cat to rescue for spraying. Although not desirable, in this particular situation it may have been an easy fix keeping a cat in a forever home.
I agree with you 100%! Education is extremely important, and unfortunately, cats do seem to take the back burner compared to dogs in most cases. I, personally, have been to several veterinarian/ rescue conferences and the education by the behaviorists there tend to be focused more in canines than felines. We do our best to address behavior issues, but unfortunately, with so many unwanted cats out there, a lot of adopters would rather return the cat and get one without a "problem" to work through. We live during a time where cats are just "disposable" in the minds of many. We need to educate and fix the people (and their perception of animals being "possessions" rather than pets) and then we will be able to work on the cats. Luckily, it seems like more and more people are starting to understand this! Thanks for the wise words! :)
Post a Comment