On my Soapbox
OK, I rarely get on my soapbox here, but I'm going to do it now.
(AHEM)
If you have pets, PLEASE spay or neuter them! Unless you are a responsible breeder, there is NO reason to keep them "intact". Seriously. A heat cycle does not calm down a female anything. Dogs don't need to get it out of their system. Just go ahead and have it done, ok? If you can't afford it, check with the humane society or the local animal shelters - often they have low or no cost programs.
If you have an abundance of feral animals near your home, please consider a catch/fix/release program. Contact your animal shelter or humane society again. The first step to solving a feral animal problem is to cut off the creation of further feral animals.
If you see a stray in your neighborhood and you can't take it in, FIND an animal shelter. Don't just let it wander around thinking somebody else will take care of it. You will wind up either (a) finding it dead in the road one day or (b) with a litter of stray animals, which may then turn into the feral animal problem I mentioned above.
NEVER bring an animal into your home without first having a vet check it out. Many diseases that spread between pets have NO VISABLE SIGN. Always wash your hands thoroughly after handling a stray animal.
So, what got me on my soapbox?
Peepers has been fixed. She is approximately 8 months old, and has already given birth to a litter of kittens. This made me sad, but it also made me angry. She's fine after her surgery, and will be going back to mom's house tonight. My mother is giving her a good home and lots of love.
(AHEM)
If you have pets, PLEASE spay or neuter them! Unless you are a responsible breeder, there is NO reason to keep them "intact". Seriously. A heat cycle does not calm down a female anything. Dogs don't need to get it out of their system. Just go ahead and have it done, ok? If you can't afford it, check with the humane society or the local animal shelters - often they have low or no cost programs.
If you have an abundance of feral animals near your home, please consider a catch/fix/release program. Contact your animal shelter or humane society again. The first step to solving a feral animal problem is to cut off the creation of further feral animals.
If you see a stray in your neighborhood and you can't take it in, FIND an animal shelter. Don't just let it wander around thinking somebody else will take care of it. You will wind up either (a) finding it dead in the road one day or (b) with a litter of stray animals, which may then turn into the feral animal problem I mentioned above.
NEVER bring an animal into your home without first having a vet check it out. Many diseases that spread between pets have NO VISABLE SIGN. Always wash your hands thoroughly after handling a stray animal.
So, what got me on my soapbox?
Peepers has been fixed. She is approximately 8 months old, and has already given birth to a litter of kittens. This made me sad, but it also made me angry. She's fine after her surgery, and will be going back to mom's house tonight. My mother is giving her a good home and lots of love.
posted by Unknown at 1:20 PM
4 Comments:
Poor little Peepers. Do you know what happened to the kittens? One of our cats was a feral kitten found in a shed.
I get really cross with breeders who breed and interbred their animals and charge the earth for them when there are so many animals who need good homes. It's selfish. That's my bit of the soapbox! :)
You just gave my number 1 rant. I hate it when people won't spay their animals. Unfortunately, the culture here is against it, and I haven't gotten Mona spayed yet ($400 for a spay, no low cost program and the vet was upset with me and said "you are mean for not letting her have puppies", right).
I wish that it were legal for vet-techs to get certificates so they can spay/neuter animals (especially neuter) because it is such a straight forward thing and that would make it so much easier to do *sighs*
And don't get my started on backyard breeders ("my pet is SO special I have to breed it!")
I totally agree with you! I know people who think fixing their pet is too expensive, but they still have money to spend on other frivolous things!
The following is a poem I found a number of years ago about spaying. It never fails to bring tears to my eyes when I read it even now.
The Miracle of Life…
“Come quick, come quick”, their mother said “The time is getting near”
She feels that when the kittens come, the children should be here.
She told them that a big orange Tom took “kitty” as his wife
“It’s wonderful, a gift from God, the miracle of life”
At half year young Kitty feels too painful and too scared
to appreciate six miracles, blind-eyed and yellow-haired.
But she knows these lives depend on her and nature tells her how
and as she cleans them, children ask “Mom, can we go now?”
But now and then for six more weeks the children visit her
to play with six new magic toys made of life and fur.
The six weeks pass, the newness gone and new homes yet unfound,
Mom bundles up six miracles and takes them to the pound,
Where, lovingly, with gentle hands and no tears left to cry,
the shelter workers kiss them once and take them off to die.
And Momma Kitty now she’s called, mourns her loss and then,
she’s put outside, and, of course, she’s pregnant once again.
Dad tells Kitty “STOP THIS NOW or you won’t live here long!”
but deep inside of Momma Kitty, this time something’s wrong.
Too young, too small, too often bred, now nature’s gone awry,
Momma Kitty feels it too and she crawls off to die.
She too is freed from this cruel world, and from her time of strife.
How harsh the truth, how high the price, this “Miracle of Life”?
By Barry Taylor, DVM
I think if someone can afford a pet, they can afford to get them spayed/neutered. If they can't afford that, they shouldn't own a pet. But what do I know, I don't own pets (I can't afford them)
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