Who Does It Hurt?
Here we are, almost knee-deep in another kitten season. More than
half the calls we get at Adopt A Pet (a California canine rescue group), are
cat related during kitten season. The feline rescue groups are totally
overwhelmed. Why don't people realize there is a simple solution to the
problem?
Who does it hurt? The public pocketbook. For every 11 cats that go
into this country's pounds, only 1 makes it out alive. An estimated $35
is spent to handle each animal in the pound (includes overhead, housing,
feeding
and lethal injection). By taking advantage of spay/neuter assistance
programs,
your cat's surgery can cost half that price, and maybe even less.
Considering that over a million cats are killed in this country's shelters
each year,
that means that over $35 million dollars are spent just to kill cats.
Instead
of spending so much of our tax dollars on killing our companion animals,
that money could be used to help homeless people, abused children, or even
just
reduce our taxes. Just think -- your neighbors negligence or your own is
causing higher taxes. Is that acceptable to you?
Who does it hurt when you don't spay or neuter your cat? ME! It
hurts me when after the 40th call of the day, trying to give the best advice
I
can to people who have unwanted kittens, I answer the phone to someone who
angrily accuses me of not caring, wanting to know what I think I'm being
paid
for (I'm a volunteer), and then proceeds to try to intimidate me with the
horrible things she is going to do to her unwanted kittens.
Who does it hurt? Neighbors who find litters of kittens deposited on
their front doorstep, or abandoned under their house and are now forced to
make a decision that the irresponsible "owner" couldn't make. There are
simply not enough homes for all of the cats born in this country. So this
kind
soul has sleepless nights because he may be forced to take the animals to
the
pound to be destroyed, while the irresponsible "owner" sleeps peacefully in
the
erroneous belief that the kittens will have found good homes. Or worse yet,
the owner may not even know that his cat has produced kittens. Is this
fair?
Who does it hurt? I received a call from an elderly lady who is
deathly allergic to cats, and all the cats in the neighborhood have taken up
residence in her yard. She is finding it difficult to get in and out of her
own
home, having to hold her breath to walk as fast as she can to her car,
fearing that the cats, trying to rub against her legs, will trip her. This
desperate
woman has tried calling every cat group and found that they are all full,
and
the cutbacks in state services have reduced the help that Animal Control
can give.
Who does it hurt? The children whose parents thought it educational
to show them the miracle of birth and those same children who first suffer
grief and then quickly learn lack of compassion when kitten after kitten are
killed by cars and they have to see these squashed little cat bodies while
walking to school. The children who quickly learn that life is cheap. The
children who are in danger of contracting rabies from cats that are seldom
given
rabies shots and who at any time may come into contact with skunks, bats, or
other
wild animals who may be infected with this deadly disease.
Who does it hurt the most? The animals are the ones who truly
suffer. The 3-day-old kitten who dies slowly of starvation under a bush.
The
kitten that climbs into a warm car engine for the night and gets chopped up
by
the fan belt when the car starts in the morning. The cat that never having
been
treated kindly by humans, needs extra restraints without the benefit of even
that last tender moment during euthanasia, because it is just too scared to
hold still.
The cats that become coyote food. The cats given away in front of
supermarkets to "good homes" that are abandoned shortly after. The
cats that should have expected that since they are domestic animals, whose
birth can be
controlled, they would not be born if they weren't wanted by people who
would
protect and care for them for the rest of their lives.
Are you one of those people who are hurting all of us by allowing
your cat (or dog) to go unspayed or unneutered? If you cat is not "fixed,"
you are the problem. Don't adopt a cat/kitten unless you are ready to make
the
appointment for spaying or neutering. If you have a cat, DO IT NOW. All
cats
should be spayed/neutered by 6 months of age and can be safely done as young
as
8 weeks.
NO - it is not healthier for an animal to go through it's first heat
before altering. NO - it is not better for an animal to have one litter.
And NO - we will never run out of cats.
Please save this article and show it to a neighbor or friend that is
harboring an unaltered cat. Help make a difference before the next
kitten season
arrives.
