Your Cat Is Calling

Something made me cry last night. I went to the pet store to buy cat shampoo--the cats are getting majorly gross--and I saw a sign on the adoption cages. Fifty-three people brought in cats and kittens early last week to a shelter. The shelter was full, but they hauled ass and placed 50 of the new animals. The day after that, fifty more people came in with cats and kittens. The animals had to be put down immediately. There were no other options. This shelter just moved to a huge new place a few years ago. Already it can't handle the capacity.

I'm not talking the people that don't think it's moral to neuter/spay their pets, can't afford the $15 of the low-cost neuter/spay clinics, or the people who take their pets to the shelter when they move or get tired of them. And I'm not talking to the folks with Draconian landlords who want major bucks for a pet deposit.

I'm talking to the responsible, kind people who know that having a pet is a long-term commitment that can last longer than most marriages. The people that know they're not in a position to make that commitment.

How about an honorable, useful short-term commitment? How about calling your shelter and offering to foster an animal until it can have cage space? Or if you'd enjoy the magic of baby animals, offer to foster a litter of kittens. Nursing mothers go psychotic in a shelter; they have to go to outside homes. When I started fostering kittens, I made it clear I would take back any one not adopted; the shelter said that hand-raised kittens are always adopted.

Don't ignore the older cat, one already gentled and trained. They may be grieving at first, but they appreciate a good home and a warm lap. The shelter probably knows what kind of environment they need: social, only pet, kids/no kids. All my older cat adoptions have worked out well. Sometime I'll tell you the story of Rocky, the 14-year-old cat whose owner had died.

The shelter will do a background check. You'll need to keep the animals indoors. Food and litter does cost something, but the shelter usually takes care of vet bills. And it's just for a little while.

Unless you fall in love.

And that wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?

Someone said that the measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. We're not doing so well with people or animals these days. Let's do what we can with who's available.

And if you can't take a cat, how about a click here or here?
8:42:57 PM    

comment []