Insights: Cats are victims of human indifference

By Dawn Callari
Monday, November 30, 2009 11:05 AM EST
The Daily News, Batavia, New York

We’ve all heard it – “don’t feed stray cats or they’ll hang around forever”. It’s an interesting and rather disturbing testimony to the lack of compassion and the capacity for cruelty a seemingly endless stream of people embraces. People who have no problem with cats who were once owned by humans and probably lived in homes, slept on couches, and played with children at some point in their lives being forced to wander in search of shelter and food. For reasons that can never be justified they are shut out of their homes, cast out of cars on roadsides, abandoned in the countryside, and left confused, hungry, and many times unable to fend for themselves. Some suffer unspeakable cruelty at the hands of people who simply don’t want to be bothered with them. Many people seem to be under the false impression that domestic cats can take care of themselves if cast out of their homes. It is true? It absolutely is not.

What happens to these cats? If they are really lucky they will soon wander into the life of a caring person who will understand that they need human intervention to survive. That is reality for some, but not most abandoned cats. Many of them die slow and painful deaths due to starvation. Most of them were not with owners responsible enough to spay or neuter them, so if they manage to find enough food to survive nature takes over and they start to breed. Cats can have 3 litters in a year’s time. What happens to the kittens? If they survive they end up wild since they weren’t with humans in their early days. They suffer from illness, parasite infestation, and sometimes die of starvation, hypothermia or are killed by predators.

Some people will put out food for stray cats that will meet their basic needs, but again don’t spay or neuter the animals and will soon experience a population explosion that only exacerbates the problem of masses of stray cats that have nowhere to go. Many times people are overwhelmed by the increasing number of animals and cannot continue to feed and shelter them, and sadly many are then told to stop feeding the cats so they will “go away”. They go away, all right. They die. I guess some people think the end justifies the means.

Many people have found that getting stray cats into shelters can be a difficult project. With the number of homeless cats and kittens in the community and the disturbing number of kittens entering the world every year, “no kill” shelters fill to capacity and cannot take in more cats because they don’t resort to euthanasia due to lack of space. Kindhearted people don’t want to see cats end up in shelters that will “put them to sleep” so they close their eyes, hope for the best, and apologetically tell the cats they just can’t help them. The cats continue to suffer, starve, and freeze to death as they get emaciated in the winter and can’t find shelter. Is that kinder than euthanasia? Dying painfully over a course of weeks or months instead of having it over with in a few minutes?

It’s time for our community to have a better answer for these animals. This is a problem caused by people, and it needs to be repaired by people. Please be a part of the solution. Don’t take on a pet if you can’t afford to care for it and get it spayed or neutered. Don’t own a pet if you aren’t serious about keeping it for the duration of it’s life. If you have suddenly decided that you no longer want your pet, please don’t be so irresponsible as to think that it is appropriate to dump it at someone’s farm, or take it for a long drive to the country so you can abandon it. I won’t even get into how many people “take care of the problem themselves” and end the animals’ lives violently.

There are many low cost spay and neuter clinics in our area that help to curb the cat overpopulation problem, so if you have a cat that needs to be sterilized and paying for that procedure is an issue call your local animal shelter for details. There are also programs available for spaying and neutering feral (wild) cats for people who are willing to feed and shelter the animals.

Do what you can for homeless cats. The problem started with people who no longer wanted them and sent them off to try to survive on their own. Consider donating funds to an animal shelter to help defray the ever-increasing cost of caring for hundreds of abandoned animals while they try to find responsible people to take them into their homes. If you have room in your home please fill it with the warmth and love of a pet that will be grateful for your kindness. And please, the next time someone tells you not to feed a stray cat, find a better answer that will not leave the animal to suffer. Too many people have come to a place of complacency and want to believe that the problem of homeless cats will never be solved, thus exonerating themselves from any guilt they may feel for ignoring the problem. It can be fixed if the humans who share the world with cats can work together on a solution.

The Daily News Editorial, Thursday, April 3, 2008

Shelter Success Story

New Facility, volunteers combine to save lives

Genesee County Animal Shelter doesn't claim to be a "no-kill" shelter for animals. But since its move into larger quarters in 2001, and with the help of a core of special volunteers, it is close to becoming that.

The old shelter on Mill Street was small, cramped and depressing for volunteers to work in. It was difficult to take good care of the animals under those conditions, and because there was such limited space, it became necessary to euthanize animals if homes couldn't be found for them. In the crowded conditions, the animals were also more likely to become sick - and so, unadoptable. In the year 2000 - the peak year - 263 dogs and cats were euthanized.

But things have changed. A new county shelter opened on West Main Street in the town of Batavia in 2001. It is large enough to hold impounded animals longer - long enough in most cases for them to be found and claimed by their owners or adopted by new owners. Of the 437 dogs and 459 cats impounded last year, just 36 were euthanized, and those only because of sickness or unresolvable aggression problems.

Animal Control Officer Aggie Jarozewski says the new shelter is important to this success story, but not the only factor. The other part of the sory lies with Volunteers For Animals, the group that works with the sheriff's department to care for the animals.

"It's the attitude of the volunteers," Officer Jarozewski said. "They get more donations, they have a great group of volunteers and they are able to get more animals checked out by the vet. And they are more patient with adoptions."

Volunteers spend time at the facility exercising the animals so people get a good idea of what the animal is like when they visit. They are willing to meet with potential adopters after hours and by appointment, and they maintain a web site with photos that promote "bonding" with the animals and thus encourage more adoptions.

VFA has a core group of 15 to 20 people who keep the shelter operating, plus another 50 or so who volunteer occasionally, says VFA President Wendy Castleman. They can take pride in what they do on behalf of animals that can't speak for themselves. And Genesee County residents can take some pride in providing the tools with which volunteers can work.

The shelter is open 1 to 3 pm Sundays through Wednesday and Fridays; 7 to 9 pm Wednesdays; and 11 am to 1 pm Saturdays. The cost to adopt is $30 plus a $35 deposit refunded when the adopter gets the animal spayed or neutered. For information call 343-6410 or visit the web site, vol4animals.org.
 

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