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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 14, 2019 2:34:10 GMT
Since I have spent much of my adult life caring for abused, neglected and abandoned animals, I will continue to be an educator.
There are two schools of thought:
Full-kill shelters (open admissions - euthanize on the basis of space available) and No-kill shelters (limited admissions based on space available).
In the large Kansas City area that I am close to, almost all of the shelters have gone to limited admissions, meaning they do not euthanize based on space available, but they do limit intake - there are waiting lists to get a pet into a shelter. That means that many pets are simply abandoned by their owners, and left on their own in the "wild" (rural America, where I live).
Dumping an animal is cruel; a house pet does not have the skills to survive in the wild, they are hit by cars, eaten by coyotes and shot at by some rural residents who have too many strays at their door already. So in situations like this, euthanasia might be the more humane choice.
Then there are the rescue groups, who pull animals out of shelters on the last day before euthanasia. They are cared for by foster families, sometimes for months or years, but that, too, takes a toll on the animal. Many, heartsick from losing their family, just give up, get sick and die. Some adapt, and find Forever Homes.
The bottom line is this - if everyone made sure their pet was spayed or neutered, there would be a drop in the numbers of abused, neglected and abandoned animals. It's really simple. For ferals, many cities have spay/neuter release policies - ferals don't do well as pets, but if they are not reproducing exponentially, they are not causing a problem.
This issue is not simply black or white, good or bad, it is a complex issue that our society needs to prioritize.
Just FYI, I am typing this with a rescued cat curled up on my lap. The rescue group I volunteer with has saved hundreds if not thousands of cats over their twenty-year history, found loving homes for them, and with no funding from the State, merely adoption fees and private donations. It's a tough bunch of old ladies, now, and we worry what will happen when we can no longer do all the physical work required to foster cats in our homes, take them to adoption events at the local PetSmart, and pay the vet bills. We need younger volunteers.
So, if you are appalled at the thought of animals being euthanized in shelters, you can make a difference. Volunteer as a foster home. Donate money or things of value that can be auctioned at a fundraising event. Support your local shelter; each one has a website. You can see what they need from their website. Perhaps you could handle the mailing list as a volunteer, or sponsor a fundraising event, or help the shelter by applying for grants.
Or, you could adopt a pet from a shelter. I guarantee, you can make a difference to that one.
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Harmless elf
Junior Member
I'm a slick shyster the pest Meister
@amiable
Posts: 2,924
Likes: 1,170
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Post by Harmless elf on Mar 14, 2019 3:00:47 GMT
It's good for business
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 14, 2019 3:51:54 GMT
It's good for the animals. What do you think about the pet overpopulation issue? And what does gameboy think should be done about it?
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Harmless elf
Junior Member
I'm a slick shyster the pest Meister
@amiable
Posts: 2,924
Likes: 1,170
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Post by Harmless elf on Mar 14, 2019 3:53:02 GMT
It's good for the animals. What do you think about the pet overpopulation issue? And what does gameboy think should be done about it? Open up more Chinese food restaurants |
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 14, 2019 4:00:19 GMT
It's good for the animals. What do you think about the pet overpopulation issue? And what does gameboy think should be done about it? Open up more Chinese food restaurants I doubt that the ASPCA or HSUS would find that amusing. Do you have something positive to say, or are you just trolling?
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 14, 2019 5:35:47 GMT
So, what about the rest of you?
Any heartwarming stories about animals you have adopted?
I'll start -
Many years ago, my veterinarian called me on the phone to tell me that he had a cat that needed a good home.
I said, "I'm sure you will find one for him."
He said, "I was thinking of your home".
I said, "I think I've adopted enough kitties to keep you in business for years."
He said, "Rachel, he's Siamese."
I said I would come up to the clinic right away. Siamese are a special breed, more like dogs than cats. As I walked in the front door, I could hear the yowling coming from the kennel area. I walked back, the vet opened the cage door, and the cat leapt at me, circling my neck with his front legs, and stopped yowling.
The vet said, "he's been waiting, just for you. The Animal Control people have had him for 6 weeks, and they thought he was just too nice of a cat to euthanize, so I took him, knowing I could find him a home."
I said, "Okay, I'm hooked, but my husband has the final word."
I called my husband at the office. He said that we had enough cats (and dogs). I asked him to just go look at the cat at the clinic.
That night, he got home, and I asked him what he thought.
"Cat sure has a lot to say.... oh, fine, go bring him home."
I named him Teddy, but my husband changed his name to Minky, because his fur was the color of mink, and his antics were that of a monkey. He was my best little buddy, all through the time I was being treated for cancer, and for my husband, after his terminal diagnosis. Minky lived a long and happy life, and I miss him to this day.
We rescued him, and he rescued us right back.
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Post by Ad○rably Obn○xi○us🐢 on Mar 14, 2019 7:46:55 GMT
The best cat we ever had, and our favorite ever, started out as a nuisance lol. He was a stray, or rather had been dumped, something we didn’t know til later. He was a tom so he was pretty mean to our cat we had already, a young neutered male. I tried running him off repeatedly because of that, but he kept coming back again and again, every day. He was so sweet to us, rubbing up on us and looking up at us with his crinkly ears we thought were really unusual. We thought he was one of them there Scottish folds or something. Day after day, he kept coming up to our back porch, eating our cat’s leftover food, picking on him, and loving on us. We started feeding our cat inside but he just kept coming around.
Then one day he didn’t come. I thought “good.” Then another day. And another. My guy said well he is a tom, he’s probably roaming. I was surprised at how sad I was. I watched the back door every day to see if he was on the porch but it was empty.
About ten days passed by, and I glanced at the back door and lo and behold, there he was. As I walked towards the door I realized he looked a little off. When I got up close I saw that he had pus running from the top of his head down into his face. As I watched he shook his head and pus splattered on the door. [dead] He looked like one of those skull candles that was half melted. I freaked and we took him into the vet immediately, deciding right then and there we would keep him and get him fixed up. The vet determined that he’d been out roaming, gotten into a fight, and got bit right on top of the head. Said the poor kitty was probably laying up under someone’s porch or car or in their bushes for days half dead until the sore on top of his head broke open and drained some, giving him just enough energy to make it home. Home?? We weren’t home! But we were, and he was ours. The vet had to shave his head, put another hole at the back to ensure proper drainage, kept him over night and neutered him, and sent him home with antibiotics. With his crinkly ears he was quite a mess to look at lol. The vet found some old stitches in his ears that indicated he’d been with another human before and they’d tried to fix his ear but failed because it was a condition of his called hematomas. Every time he got in a fight and his ears got bitten they’d swell up and we’d have to go in and have them drained and the little thing that would develop in them removed. It was some sort of a hard white thing. As he got older he did it less and less though. It did leave his ears a permanent mess but it just added to his charm. That poor cat is the only cat I’ve ever seen that was unphotogenic lol. Cats are almost always photogenic but this one...not so much. He turned out to be the best, sweetest, most laidback cat EVER.
We thought he’d settle down once he was fixed and treat our other cat better but he never really did, and after that cat lost half his fur we gave him to my guy’s parents to replace the mouser they’d had that died. He was not a mouser though, he was a lover. They adored him so it all worked out, but our cat (who we’d named Bear) was just a solo cat. He loved being outside, only coming in during violent storms but as he got older he couldn’t deal with cold very well either so he’d come in at night. He ended up dying of FIV after battling it for 2 years, but we gave him a good life for many years before that. He was about 14. In the years after we’d taken him in we talked with neighbors all up and down the street and several streets away and when the subject of cats came up they’d say “oh yeah, I remember him! Oh he was a scrapper. None of my cats would go near him.” We found out none of them could go near him, either. He was extremely skittish despite several others trying to tame him. Why he was immediately so comfortable with us despite us trying to run him off is beyond me! One neighbor told of their usual morning routine of feeding their cats outside (like 5 or 6) and seeing them suddenly part like the Red Sea and seeing Bear come strolling up to get his first lol. They were all surprised and pleased to know he found a home and was taken care of. Everyone remembered him because of his ears.
At one point a few years after we’d had him some old beat up car came crawling down our street early one morning throwing kittens out the window and one happened to be thrown out in front of our house. It ran up our driveway where our Bear was laying. Our neighbors were in their driveway chatting and had seen the whole thing. Bear has that tomcat rep so they just knew seeing that kitten running up to him that he was going to kill it, so they went inside. [odd] A few hours later I opened the front door to let him in for breakfast and he strolled in. I almost shut the door on this teeny little grey fuzzball that was trying to follow him in. That fuzzball grew into a bipolar female cat that loved nothing but him. She followed him everywhere, slept with him, ate with him, prowled with him, stood up for him when other cats came onto the property. I always explained it this way-we had a cat, Bear. And Bear had a cat-Gracie lol. She didn’t become ours until he died. Strangely (or not so strangely considering she really is a right bitch lol) she didn’t seem to notice he was gone. I really thought it would affect her because he was her entire world for her entire life. Funny thing is, he didn’t return her affections. He merely tolerated her but he did it very well. I guess having calmed down after being neutered and her being a kitten it was acceptable. I don’t know how things would have turned out if any of those factors were different. Like if it had been a boy, or half grown already.
Years later, I was playing around on google maps and looked up our house just for kicks. They hadn’t updated in a few years and when I pulled us up I saw Bear laying on our front porch bench like he always had when he was alive. It was really sweet and sad. I used to call him our gargoyle. [laugh]
One of my neighbors had a very similar experience with a tom that adopted him through no fault of his own, very sweet and laidback. I now tell people that they need to go to the shelter and adopt the ugliest, most beat up looking tom and get him fixed, he will be the best kitty ever! 😂
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Post by Stammerhead on Mar 14, 2019 9:38:38 GMT
We had some kittens born in my mother’s shed a couple of years back. The mother was born into the house next to her and was left behind by the family (along with her siblings and their mother) when the people were evicted. We were contacted by a woman from a local feral cat charity who were trying to capture the cats before they became wild but two of the cats eluded them.
What the charity does is neuter the cats and put them back in the area if they are beyond the point where they can live with people. It’s easier to find a home for a cute kitten than it is to find a home for a gnarly adult cat.
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 14, 2019 15:35:08 GMT
The best cat we ever had, and our favorite ever, started out as a nuisance lol. He was a stray, or rather had been dumped, something we didn’t know til later. He was a tom so he was pretty mean to our cat we had already, a young neutered male. I tried running him off repeatedly because of that, but he kept coming back again and again, every day. He was so sweet to us, rubbing up on us and looking up at us with his crinkly ears we thought were really unusual. We thought he was one of them there Scottish folds or something. Day after day, he kept coming up to our back porch, eating our cat’s leftover food, picking on him, and loving on us. We started feeding our cat inside but he just kept coming around. Then one day he didn’t come. I thought “good.” Then another day. And another. My guy said well he is a tom, he’s probably roaming. I was surprised at how sad I was. I watched the back door every day to see if he was on the porch but it was empty. About ten days passed by, and I glanced at the back door and lo and behold, there he was. As I walked towards the door I realized he looked a little off. When I got up close I saw that he had pus running from the top of his head down into his face. As I watched he shook his head and pus splattered on the door. [dead] He looked like one of those skull candles that was half melted. I freaked and we took him into the vet immediately, deciding right then and there we would keep him and get him fixed up. The vet determined that he’d been out roaming, gotten into a fight, and got bit right on top of the head. Said the poor kitty was probably laying up under someone’s porch or car or in their bushes for days half dead until the sore on top of his head broke open and drained some, giving him just enough energy to make it home. Home?? We weren’t home! But we were, and he was ours. The vet had to shave his head, put another hole at the back to ensure proper drainage, kept him over night and neutered him, and sent him home with antibiotics. With his crinkly ears he was quite a mess to look at lol. The vet found some old stitches in his ears that indicated he’d been with another human before and they’d tried to fix his ear but failed because it was a condition of his called hematomas. Every time he got in a fight and his ears got bitten they’d swell up and we’d have to go in and have them drained and the little thing that would develop in them removed. It was some sort of a hard white thing. As he got older he did it less and less though. It did leave his ears a permanent mess but it just added to his charm. That poor cat is the only cat I’ve ever seen that was unphotogenic lol. Cats are almost always photogenic but this one...not so much. He turned out to be the best, sweetest, most laidback cat EVER. We thought he’d settle down once he was fixed and treat our other cat better but he never really did, and after that cat lost half his fur we gave him to my guy’s parents to replace the mouser they’d had that died. He was not a mouser though, he was a lover. They adored him so it all worked out, but our cat (who we’d named Bear) was just a solo cat. He loved being outside, only coming in during violent storms but as he got older he couldn’t deal with cold very well either so he’d come in at night. He ended up dying of FIV after battling it for 2 years, but we gave him a good life for many years before that. He was about 14. In the years after we’d taken him in we talked with neighbors all up and down the street and several streets away and when the subject of cats came up they’d say “oh yeah, I remember him! Oh he was a scrapper. None of my cats would go near him.” We found out none of them could go near him, either. He was extremely skittish despite several others trying to tame him. Why he was immediately so comfortable with us despite us trying to run him off is beyond me! One neighbor told of their usual morning routine of feeding their cats outside (like 5 or 6) and seeing them suddenly part like the Red Sea and seeing Bear come strolling up to get his first lol. They were all surprised and pleased to know he found a home and was taken care of. Everyone remembered him because of his ears. At one point a few years after we’d had him some old beat up car came crawling down our street early one morning throwing kittens out the window and one happened to be thrown out in front of our house. It ran up our driveway where our Bear was laying. Our neighbors were in their driveway chatting and had seen the whole thing. Bear has that tomcat rep so they just knew seeing that kitten running up to him that he was going to kill it, so they went inside. [odd] A few hours later I opened the front door to let him in for breakfast and he strolled in. I almost shut the door on this teeny little grey fuzzball that was trying to follow him in. That fuzzball grew into a bipolar female cat that loved nothing but him. She followed him everywhere, slept with him, ate with him, prowled with him, stood up for him when other cats came onto the property. I always explained it this way-we had a cat, Bear. And Bear had a cat-Gracie lol. She didn’t become ours until he died. Strangely (or not so strangely considering she really is a right bitch lol) she didn’t seem to notice he was gone. I really thought it would affect her because he was her entire world for her entire life. Funny thing is, he didn’t return her affections. He merely tolerated her but he did it very well. I guess having calmed down after being neutered and her being a kitten it was acceptable. I don’t know how things would have turned out if any of those factors were different. Like if it had been a boy, or half grown already. Years later, I was playing around on google maps and looked up our house just for kicks. They hadn’t updated in a few years and when I pulled us up I saw Bear laying on our front porch bench like he always had when he was alive. It was really sweet and sad. I used to call him our gargoyle. [laugh] One of my neighbors had a very similar experience with a tom that adopted him through no fault of his own, very sweet and laidback. I now tell people that they need to go to the shelter and adopt the ugliest, most beat up looking tom and get him fixed, he will be the best kitty ever! 😂 What a great story! I think the old tom stories are the best, they are such personalities. I had one named Milo. That's been my practice for years, finding the most unadoptable animal to adopt. I had lost our dogs, after my husband died, and I told my rescue friend to find me the biggest, blackest, most unruly dog up at the adoption event. Several groups would come in on a Saturday, and it was a zoo. Soon she called, and we ended up having him drag us out to my car to hop in, ready to go. His name was Hercules, and he was a love. He had the run of my place for many years, along with my goats, and one sad day, I found him curled up in the yard, gone. I buried him there and planted a tree with him (he was too heavy for me to move). Of course, within another month, someone else brought me a dog who was aggressive towards his grown son, but protective of the grown son's young daughter. It was an attack waiting to happen, but Maggie got on just fine with my two goats. She, too, lived a long life, with the run of the place. Bear sounds like one of the best, and his little friend Gracie... Thanks for posting that!
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 14, 2019 15:51:10 GMT
We had some kittens born in my mother’s shed a couple of years back. The mother was born into the house next to her and was left behind by the family (along with her siblings and their mother) when the people were evicted. We were contacted by a woman from a local feral cat charity who were trying to capture the cats before they became wild but two of the cats eluded them. What the charity does is neuter the cats and put them back in the area if they are beyond the point where they can live with people. It’s easier to find a home for a cute kitten than it is to find a home for a gnarly adult cat. Ah, yes, the Spay/Neuter Release bunch - they do a good job of making sure there are no unwanted kittens, or at least as few as possible. And, having bottle-fed a bunch of babies before they became wild, if you get them young enough, they turn into sweet little fur balls, ready for anything! I think I've bottle-fed at least 15 - 20 litters over the years, and through either the vet or the rescue group, gotten them to good homes. (I sorta kept a few... ones that I just couldn't let go of). I just don't get people leaving their pets behind to fend for themselves. It's a different mentality. I just scoop up the kittens and do my thing. Then they are 'fixed', so the cycle is stopped, and they have a chance at a good life with a loving family.
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Post by lenlenlen1 on Mar 14, 2019 16:29:40 GMT
Full-kill shelters (open admissions - euthanize on the basis of space available) and No-kill shelters (limited admissions based on space available).
So basically they're the same thing since animals left in the wild die anyway. I didn't realize No-Kill shelters basically meant abandoning the pets.
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 14, 2019 17:47:49 GMT
Full-kill shelters (open admissions - euthanize on the basis of space available) and No-kill shelters (limited admissions based on space available).
So basically they're the same thing since animals left in the wild die anyway. I didn't realize No-Kill shelters basically meant abandoning the pets. Yeah, len, that is a little known fact outside of the sheltering community. A shelter may be no-kill, but people are taking their pets to one that does, so it gets killed there, or abandoning it so it dies in the wild or Animal Control takes it to the full-kill facility. And the operating cost of a no-kill goes through the roof, since they don't adopt out as many animals. Three-legged dogs wait in cages for months for the right adopter to come along. Other, more adoptable animals are going to the other shelter, or being abandoned. There is no easy answer. Other than spay/neuter your pets, and eventually the numbers will come down. It breaks our hearts, but we do what we can, when we can. We make a difference to the ones that we can.
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Post by Ad○rably Obn○xi○us🐢 on Mar 14, 2019 19:26:40 GMT
Full-kill shelters (open admissions - euthanize on the basis of space available) and No-kill shelters (limited admissions based on space available).
So basically they're the same thing since animals left in the wild die anyway. I didn't realize No-Kill shelters basically meant abandoning the pets. Yeah, len, that is a little known fact outside of the sheltering community. A shelter may be no-kill, but people are taking their pets to one that does, so it gets killed there, or abandoning it so it dies in the wild or Animal Control takes it to the full-kill facility. And the operating cost of a no-kill goes through the roof, since they don't adopt out as many animals. Three-legged dogs wait in cages for months for the right adopter to come along. Other, more adoptable animals are going to the other shelter, or being abandoned. There is no easy answer. Other than spay/neuter your pets, and eventually the numbers will come down. It breaks our hearts, but we do what we can, when we can. We make a difference to the ones that we can. I can't even imagine what it must be like day in and day out to be faced with the cruelty of abandonment, disease, old age, and mistreatment towards innocent animals. I can imagine the burnout is pretty high. Here in the south any local facebook page is inundated with animals for sale or cheap. Some snap those free ones up to be used as bait in dog fighting. I can barely even deal with just the thought of that and could never, ever deal with the actual reality of it. I hear it's a little different up in the northern states. Not sure why that is, but we ship dogs up north for adoption. I don't know why it isn't done more often. I know it isn't cheap, but then again I also don't know the cost of running a facility either. I agree, spay and neuter. TNR at the very least.
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 14, 2019 19:41:43 GMT
No Kill shelters appear to have been a ploy by animal exploitation enterprise to go after animal advocacy groups. The first proponents of no kill shelters were vivisectors (because unwanted animals means a cheap lab fodder supply).
Nathan Winograd--lawyer--is the PR face of No Kill shelters. Very corrupt immoral guy.
If one really wanted to deal with animal population issues, you would go after breeders.
Make animal breeding expensive, and the supply will drop.
We had one cat show up at our place--years before there had been a poster put up of a missing cat. An orange cat--we wondered if he was the same one. He was old, not neutered, and semi-feral. Broken fang, broken tail, very gruff. One day in the middle of winter he showed up and we noticed his hind leg was badly infected. Despite the snowstorm, there was a vet clinic within walking distance so we called them and a vet assistant said we could pay $10 to have the cat euthanized since he wasn't our cat. But we said no, we would pay to have the cat fixed up. She tried to talk us out of it but we went ahead. Everyone we mentioned it to said they wouldn't have paid it.
The cat was patched up and we put him in the basement to mend. Then a few days later I heard this ghostly sound, like a shrill whining cry. It was the cat. He had never said a word before, but now suddenly, he was chattering up a storm. He lived 4 more years.
I used to give him flea baths and he never protested. He liked to chew on my hair.
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Post by Catman on Mar 14, 2019 22:00:02 GMT
There seems to be a third option in the area where Catman lives: Kill only when absolutely necessary due to severe illness or injury.
All critters are taken in, and if there is overcrowding, other area shelters are contacted to find space. Animals will be housed until an appropriate home can be found. For example, truly feral cats are placed in the Working Cats Program where they are homed with folks who have farms, acreages, and some businesses (such as car dealerships). In these settings, the cats work as pest control.
Miko is an example of how this policy works. She was born in a shelter and lived her entire life in shelters before being moved to the local shelter due to overcrowding elsewhere. Maybe it was because of her imperfect markings or her overabundance of energy, but she did not find a home until Catman and Catwoman adopted her when she was 2 years 3 months old. A lot of people missed out on a great cat.
Katsura is another example. She was found with her kittens in a window well in October and taken to the shelter. After weaning her kittens, she was spayed and assessed for homing options. Because she is a gentle cat, they decided to give her a chance at a regular home rather than enter the Working Cats Program. Catman adopted her on March 11, so she was given a safe place to live for quite an extended time and was, in fact, the longest resident at the shelter.
Some special needs cats such as those with FIV can take quite a long while to find a home since they should be only in single cat homes or homes that already have an FIV cat. And then sometimes, the reasons why a cat does not get adopted are a mystery. One cat Catman considered last year took nearly eight months to find a home. Catman had to pass her by because she did not get along with other cats, but that reason surely cannot account for her long tenure.
Then there is the example of Boss, one of the cats Catman had in mind on the 11th. He had developed a tumor on his throat and was having trouble breathing. He was taken to the vet and given treatment, and at the time of Catman's visit, he was in the hospital. He expected to make a full recovery.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 14, 2019 22:44:29 GMT
and this is the place to do just that … not in a thread where a happy adoption announcement would be highjacked and ultimately spoiled!
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 15, 2019 5:09:22 GMT
There seems to be a third option in the area where Catman lives: Kill only when absolutely necessary due to severe illness or injury. All critters are taken in, and if there is overcrowding, other area shelters are contacted to find space. Animals will be housed until an appropriate home can be found. For example, truly feral cats are placed in the Working Cats Program where they are homed with folks who have farms, acreages, and some businesses (such as car dealerships). In these settings, the cats work as pest control. Miko is an example of how this policy works. She was born in a shelter and lived her entire life in shelters before being moved to the local shelter due to overcrowding elsewhere. Maybe it was because of her imperfect markings or her overabundance of energy, but she did not find a home until Catman and Catwoman adopted her when she was 2 years 3 months old. A lot of people missed out on a great cat. Katsura is another example. She was found with her kittens in a window well in October and taken to the shelter. After weaning her kittens, she was spayed and assessed for homing options. Because she is a gentle cat, they decided to give her a chance at a regular home rather than enter the Working Cats Program. Catman adopted her on March 11, so she was given a safe place to live for quite an extended time and was, in fact, the longest resident at the shelter. Some special needs cats such as those with FIV can take quite a long while to find a home since they should be only in single cat homes or homes that already have an FIV cat. And then sometimes, the reasons why a cat does not get adopted are a mystery. One cat Catman considered last year took nearly eight months to find a home. Catman had to pass her by because she did not get along with other cats, but that reason surely cannot account for her long tenure. Then there is the example of Boss, one of the cats Catman had in mind on the 11th. He had developed a tumor on his throat and was having trouble breathing. He was taken to the vet and given treatment, and at the time of Catman's visit, he was in the hospital. He expected to make a full recovery. It seems that Catman lives in a very progressive, humane area - I love the working cats program, what a great idea!
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Mar 15, 2019 5:25:43 GMT
No Kill shelters appear to have been a ploy by animal exploitation enterprise to go after animal advocacy groups. The first proponents of no kill shelters were vivisectors (because unwanted animals means a cheap lab fodder supply). Nathan Winograd--lawyer--is the PR face of No Kill shelters. Very corrupt immoral guy. If one really wanted to deal with animal population issues, you would go after breeders. Make animal breeding expensive, and the supply will drop. We had one cat show up at our place--years before there had been a poster put up of a missing cat. An orange cat--we wondered if he was the same one. He was old, not neutered, and semi-feral. Broken fang, broken tail, very gruff. One day in the middle of winter he showed up and we noticed his hind leg was badly infected. Despite the snowstorm, there was a vet clinic within walking distance so we called them and a vet assistant said we could pay $10 to have the cat euthanized since he wasn't our cat. But we said no, we would pay to have the cat fixed up. She tried to talk us out of it but we went ahead. Everyone we mentioned it to said they wouldn't have paid it. The cat was patched up and we put him in the basement to mend. Then a few days later I heard this ghostly sound, like a shrill whining cry. It was the cat. He had never said a word before, but now suddenly, he was chattering up a storm. He lived 4 more years. I used to give him flea baths and he never protested. He liked to chew on my hair. Old orange cats seem to have that personality; fix them up, and they will hang around forever. I would have fixed the cat, too - My husband and I were always coming in with some injured critter, and the vet would say, what do you want me to do (hinting at euthanasia) and we would look at him incredulously and say, "Fix the critter"! I've got one kitty that I raised from a little bitty thing, that likes to chew on my hair, too! He's a funny fellow, big now, but was no bigger than a 'button' when I got him, and so he was named "Button".
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