I heard on the radio this morning that our local human society is "at capacity". This means they will not be accepting any more owner surrendered animals. They've stated that although they are not technically 'full', they do not have the ability, at this time, to house individual, older, adult animals because they need to better utilize the space they have to house more than one animal in a spot. You can read the full story here. I do encourage you to read it because it's important that we (as a society) start realizing we are not alone on this planet and a reflection of humanity is the way we treat the animals we life with.
I do not fault the shelter. Not one bit. I volunteered at this very shelter 12 years ago. I blame me. I blame you. I blame the guy beside you on the bus. I blame the neighbour, they neighbour's mother and the rest of us 'hoomans'. We are to blame for this whole mess (aren't we always?).
Currently, as the article states they have in residence:
Ready for adoption:
83 cats and 36 kittens
31 dogs and 2 puppies
In care within the facility:
171 cats and 242 kittens
107 dogs and 41 puppies
40 rabbits
20 guinea pigs
parrots
budgies
dove
ferrets
king snake
In short, they have boat loads of animals. This frustrates me to no end. Spay and neuter, people. It's just that easy. Stop breeding animals. STOP IT NOW. I feel like Bob Barker, except Bob Barker is a moron (that's an entirely different post). Perhaps I feel like fat Drew Carry. Yes. I do.
I know this is cliched but animals are people too. They don't appreciate being bred like mice. They want to be loved. They want a home. They want food. They want clean water.
And they deserve it.
This story has gotten so much coverage in our city (and province), the Human Societies website crashed by 10am this morning from so much traffic. They've since adopted 21 animals out but there are (as you can see above) hundreds more. I just hope that the animals get a good life. An animal is a life long commitment. For their entire life, expensive medication, surgeries et all.
That's sad. I wish that we had more homes for these pets and that people could/would take more responsibility for their pets. Also, if you ever wanted to flip my rage switch right to the red zone mention pet dumping.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have to stop typing becasue there is a needy cat on my lap.:)
It's one of the things that immediately flies me into the red zone too. thankfully, over 100 were adopted (which scares me - because I wonder how many are 'life long' and not done out of sensationalism). However, they are still over capacity and still aren't accepting owner surrendered animals.
DeleteMakes my heart sad. Hope your kitty is on the mend and enjoyed the snuggles!