There's a bone chilling air swirling around the Niagara region. It's got nothing to do with winter but everything to do with numbers. It is estimated that 5,000 cats and kittens are displaced each year in our region alone. Frightened felines that for whatever reason are no longer wanted by their caregivers are relinquished at a shelter or worse, abandoned outdoors to fend for themselves. A small percentage of these cats find another home to call their own. Tragically most do not and they end up being destroyed. Many do not realize that there is a hefty price tag attached to this activity. The cost to society is conservatively placed at $100.00 per cat. This would include the administrative costs of intake, housing and food, destroying and disposing of the body. This means that our region alone is spending upwards of $500,000.00 per annum to destroy unwanted cats. Tragically the number is far, far higher when one factors in all the other unwanted companion animals that are destroyed in the same fashion. Utter madness does not even come close to putting a label on this. As a 'civilized' society, can we not implement more proactive methods to deal with this crisis and resolve it over the long term? We are working together with our fellow animal welfare groups to make this happen in the Niagara region. Community wide TNR would be a positive first step in stabilizing the feral and homeless cat population.
Friday, February 13, 2009
chilling reality...
There's a bone chilling air swirling around the Niagara region. It's got nothing to do with winter but everything to do with numbers. It is estimated that 5,000 cats and kittens are displaced each year in our region alone. Frightened felines that for whatever reason are no longer wanted by their caregivers are relinquished at a shelter or worse, abandoned outdoors to fend for themselves. A small percentage of these cats find another home to call their own. Tragically most do not and they end up being destroyed. Many do not realize that there is a hefty price tag attached to this activity. The cost to society is conservatively placed at $100.00 per cat. This would include the administrative costs of intake, housing and food, destroying and disposing of the body. This means that our region alone is spending upwards of $500,000.00 per annum to destroy unwanted cats. Tragically the number is far, far higher when one factors in all the other unwanted companion animals that are destroyed in the same fashion. Utter madness does not even come close to putting a label on this. As a 'civilized' society, can we not implement more proactive methods to deal with this crisis and resolve it over the long term? We are working together with our fellow animal welfare groups to make this happen in the Niagara region. Community wide TNR would be a positive first step in stabilizing the feral and homeless cat population.
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