Are East Coast shelters/rescues more overwhelmed than West Coast ?

[Lizzie]

I know that many cats in shelters in the state of Washington (where I live), especially east of the Cascades, are euthanized every day for all the usual reasons, but I also know that lots shelters on the west side of the state are close to no-kill - and I don't mean they pass on the un-adopted cats to a kill shelter.

The number of cats looking for homes in this area is heartwrenching but not as gut-wrenching as what I just looked through on a facebook page for Death Row Cats in NYC. I was looking for death row cats in my state but couldn't find a hit. At the Manhattan shelter, they are euthanizing 50 cats per day at present. Not sick cats, not old cats or unfriendly cats but handsome/beautiful and friendly young cats, even kittens, even orange coat and white coat kittens, who are usually first to be snapped up.

Are there fewer sanctuaries and rescues in the NY area? I know a number of old-time Pet Talkers live in or near this area so thought you might know. I am haunted by the photos I just saw and know if they were being shown in the Seattle area, I'd be working with a rescue to scoop up at least a few.

[Freedom]

Here in RI, our shelters are swamped, especially the cat sides. One shelter just made the news as they have over 100 cats and kittens, they are set up for 40 to 50. So they are desperate for adoptions, had cut their adoption fees for last weekend. I hate when they do that, though, because you know they aren't doing any sort of background checks at all, not even a call to the applicant's vet.

On the dog side, small dogs have always gone quickly here. Large dogs stay a bit longer, but pitties are overwhelming the shelters. Why folks keep breeding them I don't know, with so many not having homes.

It is quite sad and I can't even look any more.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I know that the local rescue groups are flooded with kittens here. Adoptions were very slow last year and it appears to be the same way this year too.:( My Colby had been with his foster mom for almost 10 months before I adopted him. I really like his rescue group and foster mom so this is another reason why I wanted to adopt more kittens from her. I didn't think that I'd end up with three but I did want to help this rescue group by adopting.

[Lady's Human]

On the dog side, small dogs have always gone quickly here. Large dogs stay a bit longer, but pitties are overwhelming the shelters. Why folks keep breeding them I don't know, with so many not having homes.

It is quite sad and I can't even look any more.

People keep breeding them because they can get a quick buck or $200 for them on craigslist

[catmandu]

:love::love:
Things are bad here in Hamilton Ontario for Stray Dogs and Cats :(:( there are so many sad faces that are PTS.
That is why I help My Porch Cats:love::love:

[moosmom]

They are jam packed here. This is causing people to dump their animals. I haven't seen it this bad in a long time.

[DriftyAlison0]

I know the shelters in my area is full or nearly full with cats but with it being kitten season its normal. I don't like the sales neither since it brings out people who shouldn't be owning a pet because they can't afford it out. But at the same time we need the adoptions. At the shelter I volunteer they still do the background checks and stuff so they make sure that they are going to a good home. I just don't like it when the people can't afford the full price comes in because that could mean that they can't afford to keep up with the pet's care.

[Anikaca77]

I know how you feel, I feel terrible when I see so many being put down every day. It's just terrible. I know I keep thinking if I could open a shelter or a no-kill place it would help but then for how long...and well I don't have the funds to even start a no-kill shelter but it's just so sad. Seeing so many homeless and not having enoguh homes. I just got a call at lunch time from a lady who runs a non-profit group and she found 14 kittens last night all of them were starving for food and she kept getting one right after another. There is apparently a lady who left her house and left the cats there unfixed of course. It's just so simple to spay and neuter but people are lazy and just don't care.

[Lizzie]

I don't like seeing adoption fees reduced either, and also worry about the kind of homes cats adopted "on sale" are going to. The sanctuary where I volunteer reduced their adoption fee last month by 50% for seniors, and this month for black cats. Since I adore black cats, this always hits me hard and I'll never get used to the unpopularity of black cats in the U.S. They are as careful as most shelters in assessing potential adopters, although they don't check references or do home checks. Sometimes I see cats up for adoption with them who have been found as strays and had originally been adopted from that shelter. There are no guarantees that any adopted cat is going to be in a home for life, or even that people will be responsible enough to return them to the shelter - who will take them back immediately, no matter how crowded they are. Even cats adopted from Best Friends, in Utah, who do run a background check and make a home visit sometimes end up as strays.

The spay/neuter units that go out into the community have been a big help in reducing the cat population, and there are plenty of low-cost spay/neuter clinics through shelters or rescues. But, as we all know, there are people who find even that too much trouble.

I'm about to start fostering, perhaps a little adoption, FeLV+ cats in the downstairs area of my home and I've corresponded with a few people out-of-state about the cats they have advertised as needing homes. I contacted a woman in Indianna about 6 kittens who came from a mother cat who was positive and she's assuming the kittens will be positive also (she's probably right.) I thought, don't judge, don't assume she simply let her unvaccinated, unspayed cat roam but it seems that's what she did and now she's looking for good homes for the kittens without having the resources to test them or even take them to a vet first. They are gorgeous brown tabbies with pixie-like ears, it's an awful shame.

Perhaps I'm wrong about the east coast having more unadopted cats. Perhaps the east coast simply advertises more, shouts for help more.