indra said:
I had to do a quick check to see if there was a limit to how many I could have here before I answered. Can't find any (there isn't for dogs either). Whew!
I have 10 cats (and one poor overwhelmed dog ), and sometimes my brother's/niece's cat (Spunky Butt) comes over to stay for a while and hang out with the other cats.
It's not really my fault -- they were all strays and I just couldn't send them off when they were hungry and cold and pitiful. I'm such a sucker.
Here's a pic (it's blurry as all heck though...sorry about that) of Miss Myrrh when she first arrived a little more than three years ago.
It was cold and dark and miserable outside when the dog alerted me to this horrible little intruder (Zeke is on the melodramatic side) and I went out and found this poor tiny skinny little thing. Of course I brought her in. She was not only very skinny, but also sick. For the first few days I really didn't think she was going to make it she was so sick. I took her to the vet and got medicine for her but she was so tiny and so very sick I really feared for her. Then when I was sure she was pretty much done for I went in to check on her and when I did she woke up, staggered to her feet, looked around and said "where's the food?" I thought "Huh, guess she's going to live." That pic was when I first brought her in -- she actually looked worse two or three days later (because of her illness), but I didn't get any pics then..
It took her almost a year to decide she liked me (she loves me a lot now ), and I think the only other cat she likes is Loki and even he is apt to get a smack if she's in one of her moods. She dislikes Spunky Butt intensely and will chase him down and smack the snot out of him even though he is more than twice her size. She's a little terror but I love her.
Awww, what an amazing story!
Speaking of taking in strays and zoning regulations, I've been reading something tonight that I'm so upset and angry about.
This is going to be a long rant, because I'm pissed...
Just over a week ago in our local news, there was a story about a man who lives on the ground floor of an apartment complex. He has 3 cats of his own and was taking care of his mother's cat. As well, he's been feeding 4 strays on his balcony, and has set up a small makeshift shelter for them to protect them from the winter weather - and the past month has been brutal, one of the worst winters in decades here.
Neighbours complained, and he's being fined and being made to give up one of his indoor cats, and he was told to stop feeding the strays. Apparently we have a 3 cat limit too, but an SPCA official has said that it's not acted upon unless there are complaints.
I was catching up on some of the letters to the editor about this story from the past week. One woman stated that she lives in the same neighbourhood as this man, and that she chooses not to own pets, but still must suffer the consequences of others who do - cat excrement in gardens, males spraying against her house, etc. She reasoned that if the strays were not fed, they would move on to another neighbourhood. Um, hello? Starving these 4 cats is not going to solve your problem, lady.
Other letters pointed out how the lack of a low-cost spay-neuter program in this area is exacerbating the situation. Some described programs in other areas that have capture and release programs to spay/neuter strays and feral cats. A nearby city spent thousands of dollars to launch a project encouraging people to bring in strays. Of the several hundred that were brought in, and all but two were euthanized.
Some stats were given about our local SPCA - I think it said that 60% of cats brought in for whatever reason are euthanized. It also said that they are not government funded in any way, they rely on donations. I also know from checking their website that they charge well over $100 to adopt a cat. I've dealt with them in the past, and they are hugely ineffectual and inefficient.
Wtf?? I don't live in the back woods, or anything, I live in a city of 100,000 about 90 minutes from Toronto.
Conversely, the Toronto Humane Society has a policy of NO euthanizing, unless the animal is terminally ill and they can't do anything for them. Also, although they do have an involved adoption process, including an interview (when we adopted our pup from our local SPCA, we basically paid and left with her - no interview! ), their adoptions for all animals are free, they only request a donation. Like our SPCA, they rely on donations and volunteers to keep their facility operating. For example, here is their policy about feral cats:
http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/feline/feral.asp
I can't praise the Toronto SPCA enough for their approach to animals. Our local shelter is light years away from their approach. I can't help but think that if our local SPCA would follow the same model as the Toronto one, people would be more willing to donate their money and time, and dogs and cats could be spayed and neutered, go to good families, and live out their lives happy and loved. It's just so fucking discouraging and sad to hear all of this about my own area, and I wish I had the knowledge or resources to do something about it.