QueenScoopalot
07-17-2004, 10:20 AM
This is worth reading, and printing out for all those who don't spay/neuter their pets.
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=83631
Pets pay ultimate price for irresponsible owners
ANDREA J. WRIGHT / Statesman Journal
Montana is among almost 200 cats that are waiting for homes at the Humane Society of the Willamette Valley in Salem.
Not enough are adopted, and too many are euthanized
Statesman Journal
July 16, 2004
Five tiny kittens — Montana, Dakota, Nevada, Alaska and Utah — are mugging for all they’re worth. They’d better.
The gray, white and ginger littermates are five of 195 felines at the Humane Society of the Willamette Valley this day. All around them, dozens of equally cute kittens are mewing, pouncing or batting paws through cage bars.
The lucky ones will catch someone’s eye and get adopted. The rest will grow older in captivity, looking less cute and more resigned by the week.
More than 8,000 cats and kittens come in through the door each year, most of them during the summer months. About one in four find homes.
The owners of the gray and ginger litter at least had a decent excuse. They were transferred by the military and couldn’t take the kittens along.
But typically, people drive up with boxfuls of kittens because they wanted their children to witness the miracle of birth. Or they didn’t realize that kittens would become sexually active so soon. Or they meant to have them spayed, but time just got away — and on and on.
The humane society staff has heard all of the excuses. They try not to be judgmental. But the rest of us are left to wonder: How can people be so irresponsible?
Funny how no one ever wants their children to witness the miracle of euthanasia. That is what happens to three cats out of four to make room for more kittens and cats.
Humane society staffers and volunteers try to stem the tide by counseling would-be adopters, to make sure they understand the commitment they’re making.
They run a day camp that teaches children to be responsible pet owners.
They sell low-cost spay/neuter certificates to people on public assistance, and they require that all animals be spayed or neutered after their adoption.
But all of that amounts to little more than a finger in the dike.
Kittens leave the humane society in ones and twos. They arrive in boxfuls. As many as 100 kittens per day. All summer long.
What will it take to get humans to change this?
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=83631
Pets pay ultimate price for irresponsible owners
ANDREA J. WRIGHT / Statesman Journal
Montana is among almost 200 cats that are waiting for homes at the Humane Society of the Willamette Valley in Salem.
Not enough are adopted, and too many are euthanized
Statesman Journal
July 16, 2004
Five tiny kittens — Montana, Dakota, Nevada, Alaska and Utah — are mugging for all they’re worth. They’d better.
The gray, white and ginger littermates are five of 195 felines at the Humane Society of the Willamette Valley this day. All around them, dozens of equally cute kittens are mewing, pouncing or batting paws through cage bars.
The lucky ones will catch someone’s eye and get adopted. The rest will grow older in captivity, looking less cute and more resigned by the week.
More than 8,000 cats and kittens come in through the door each year, most of them during the summer months. About one in four find homes.
The owners of the gray and ginger litter at least had a decent excuse. They were transferred by the military and couldn’t take the kittens along.
But typically, people drive up with boxfuls of kittens because they wanted their children to witness the miracle of birth. Or they didn’t realize that kittens would become sexually active so soon. Or they meant to have them spayed, but time just got away — and on and on.
The humane society staff has heard all of the excuses. They try not to be judgmental. But the rest of us are left to wonder: How can people be so irresponsible?
Funny how no one ever wants their children to witness the miracle of euthanasia. That is what happens to three cats out of four to make room for more kittens and cats.
Humane society staffers and volunteers try to stem the tide by counseling would-be adopters, to make sure they understand the commitment they’re making.
They run a day camp that teaches children to be responsible pet owners.
They sell low-cost spay/neuter certificates to people on public assistance, and they require that all animals be spayed or neutered after their adoption.
But all of that amounts to little more than a finger in the dike.
Kittens leave the humane society in ones and twos. They arrive in boxfuls. As many as 100 kittens per day. All summer long.
What will it take to get humans to change this?