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The Problem
In an average month, the Lillian Allbon Animal Shelter in the community of
Amherst, Nova Scotia, is turning away 50 - 60 cats. The Bide Awhile Animal
Shelter in Halifax, Nova Scotia, turns away 30 - 40 cats in an average day.
The shelters are not just overflowing with unwanted cats because of a lack of
space but also because of a lack of opportunity to find homes for all these
unwanted cats. Also, many shelters can not afford the $200 CDN it costs to
neuter and care for a cat that it may or may not place in a home for $50 - $80
dollars.
During the whole last year of 2006, the Lillian Allbon Animal Shelter will have
placed approximately 50 cats at a cost of $7,500 CDN. This leaves over 600
cats in just the Amherst area vulnerable to being abandoned, neglected or
killed in 2006 alone. These numbers do not take into account all the countless
cats that remain unreported. This is a problem that does not stop at the
provincial boarders. It is repeated throughout every community in the
Maritimes and beyond. It is a problem that we believe needs to be approached
beyond the attempts of the past.
In a rural community, only few people will recognize the need of an animal as
ubiquitous and ‘non-profitable’ as a cat. In most cities, people are simply
overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. In many places it is left to the SPCA to
deal with the cat overpopulation by killing those it can not place in homes.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress..."
We need to see the big picture in order to bring the experiences of our
communities to bear. We need to think comprehensively in order to begin to
tackle the roots of the cat overpopulation. We need to take responsibility as a
society for the well-being of our animals. We, at ca-r-ma.org, have taken on
the responsibility of the well-being of cats.
Unfortunately, many people believe that cats will survive if abandoned;
however, this is wishful thinking. Those who do survive have multiple health
problems - they are frequently sick, frostbitten and emaciated. Their food
consists of garbage, poisoned rodents and even antifreeze. Those who do not
survive, die slow, miserable deaths from starvation, disease, accidents, abuse
or attacks from predators. The ones that receive care are the fortunate few.
Toronto Cat Rescue (TCR), for example, says there could be as many as half a
million unwanted cats living on the streets of Toronto. "There are tens of
thousands of feral cats in the city that are a few generations removed from
being anyone's pet. They are more wildlife than domestic, yet are not [even]
given as much protection as wildlife“, says Michael Milne, of Annex Cat Rescue
(ACR). The situation for cats in the cities around the Maritimes only varies in
numbers.
Abandoned cats fall into two categories:
1. Strays, who are former pets that have been lost or dumped.
2. Feral cats, who are born into non-domestic situations and are normally not
tameable unless they're trapped as kittens.
Most dumped cats form “cat colonies" that vary in size from 3 or 4 animals to
around 20. In addition to the multiple health problems mentioned above, they
also fight wounds and skin infections that go untreated and become chronic
sores. One of their biggest challenges, however, turn up during the winter
months when finding unfrozen water is impossible, and many cats become
extremely dehydrated.
Despite all this misery, cats are astonishingly effective breeders, and many
different approaches have been taken over the past to battle the reoccurring
overpopulation. None of them has offered a long term solution. That is: None,
except for one...
"If one female produces two litters per year, and if just two kittens per litter
survive to reproduce, and none of these cats are ever spayed or neutered, the
total population in five years, or 10 generations, multiplies to 59,049."
(With excerpts from Alley Cat Allies and Eye Weekly, Toronto’s Cat Crisis by
Abigail Pugh.)
In an average month, the Lillian Allbon Animal Shelter in the community of
Amherst, Nova Scotia, is turning away 50 - 60 cats. The Bide Awhile Animal
Shelter in Halifax, Nova Scotia, turns away 30 - 40 cats in an average day.
The shelters are not just overflowing with unwanted cats because of a lack of
space but also because of a lack of opportunity to find homes for all these
unwanted cats. Also, many shelters can not afford the $200 CDN it costs to
neuter and care for a cat that it may or may not place in a home for $50 - $80
dollars.
During the whole last year of 2006, the Lillian Allbon Animal Shelter will have
placed approximately 50 cats at a cost of $7,500 CDN. This leaves over 600
cats in just the Amherst area vulnerable to being abandoned, neglected or
killed in 2006 alone. These numbers do not take into account all the countless
cats that remain unreported. This is a problem that does not stop at the
provincial boarders. It is repeated throughout every community in the
Maritimes and beyond. It is a problem that we believe needs to be approached
beyond the attempts of the past.
In a rural community, only few people will recognize the need of an animal as
ubiquitous and ‘non-profitable’ as a cat. In most cities, people are simply
overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. In many places it is left to the SPCA to
deal with the cat overpopulation by killing those it can not place in homes.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress..."
We need to see the big picture in order to bring the experiences of our
communities to bear. We need to think comprehensively in order to begin to
tackle the roots of the cat overpopulation. We need to take responsibility as a
society for the well-being of our animals. We, at ca-r-ma.org, have taken on
the responsibility of the well-being of cats.
Unfortunately, many people believe that cats will survive if abandoned;
however, this is wishful thinking. Those who do survive have multiple health
problems - they are frequently sick, frostbitten and emaciated. Their food
consists of garbage, poisoned rodents and even antifreeze. Those who do not
survive, die slow, miserable deaths from starvation, disease, accidents, abuse
or attacks from predators. The ones that receive care are the fortunate few.
Toronto Cat Rescue (TCR), for example, says there could be as many as half a
million unwanted cats living on the streets of Toronto. "There are tens of
thousands of feral cats in the city that are a few generations removed from
being anyone's pet. They are more wildlife than domestic, yet are not [even]
given as much protection as wildlife“, says Michael Milne, of Annex Cat Rescue
(ACR). The situation for cats in the cities around the Maritimes only varies in
numbers.
Abandoned cats fall into two categories:
1. Strays, who are former pets that have been lost or dumped.
2. Feral cats, who are born into non-domestic situations and are normally not
tameable unless they're trapped as kittens.
Most dumped cats form “cat colonies" that vary in size from 3 or 4 animals to
around 20. In addition to the multiple health problems mentioned above, they
also fight wounds and skin infections that go untreated and become chronic
sores. One of their biggest challenges, however, turn up during the winter
months when finding unfrozen water is impossible, and many cats become
extremely dehydrated.
Despite all this misery, cats are astonishingly effective breeders, and many
different approaches have been taken over the past to battle the reoccurring
overpopulation. None of them has offered a long term solution. That is: None,
except for one...
"If one female produces two litters per year, and if just two kittens per litter
survive to reproduce, and none of these cats are ever spayed or neutered, the
total population in five years, or 10 generations, multiplies to 59,049."
(With excerpts from Alley Cat Allies and Eye Weekly, Toronto’s Cat Crisis by
Abigail Pugh.)
