Skip to main content

Cats, cats and more cats


As we move into warmer months we will begin to see more and more cats coming out of hiding. I am truly amazed at the amount of cats in this community and how much of a problem we have with feral and free roaming cats. I am not sure how cats became disposable in our culture and I am not just talking about here but across the nation. We get many calls a day from people trying to find a solution to their stray cat problem. We hear a lot of, "someone just dropped them here", when more than likely they came across a food source and wandered to the location. It is very apparent to us with the amount of kittens we see each spring through the fall, many coming in way too young to survive on their own without their mothers which means, we will get more next year because the mother was not spayed or the father not neutered. It is a chronic cycle each year that we want to stop.

So how do we stop it? I think knowledge is power and if you have a problem you should read up on the topic and see how to change it. Also you need to be responsible if you own a cat that is free roaming, you need to get it fixed. If you are a good Samaritan who is feeding cats around your home or barn, you need to get them fixed. Before you just take kittens or a cat to your local animal control, find out what their euthanasia rates are for cats, some are as high as 80% in the area. Then decide if you can find another way of handling this problem. If you feel you would like to make a difference and really see change then please check out our web page on feral/free roaming cats. Or go to national organizations who have a lot of information out there on the topic like Alley Cat Allies.

But doing nothing adds to the issue and less cats living in our community. Taking feral or wild cats to your local animal shelter does nothing to solve your problem. Please take a moment and read.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When the tables turn

It is not unknown for people to be scared of dogs. Animal shelters throughout history were built on that fear. Dog catchers were employed to capture packs of nuisance dogs that were roaming and pestering communities. Pounds were built on the edge of towns near the dump to remove stray dogs from towns and in most cases, destroy them to prevent public endangerment.   Fast forward to now and shelters are referred to as centers, instead of strays we say adoptable, we don’t say animals we say pets, and dogs are family members. Getting a dog without a home into a family is a community effort and #adoptdontshop is a movement.  So how strange it is that the COVID-19 pandemic has made us fear being too close to people and has increased our desire for pets?  People want to foster or adopt pets, now more than ever! At the Lynchburg Humane Society’s Center for Pets there has been an increase of 85% more pets in foster care than at this time last year. The Lynchburg Humane...
Post a Comment
Read more

What I Now Know

What I Now Know.... When joining the Lynchburg Humane Society as their new Executive Director last month, I thought I knew A LOT about this community shelter.  After all, I was from Lynchburg and had adopted many of my family's pets from LHS over the years.  I knew that the shelter had once been housed in a cramped cinder block building back behind the City Stadium, and that the community had rallied around the need for a new facility - - -  coming together to build a beautiful new building on Graves Mill Road in 2015.  I had visited this new facility on numerous occasions, sometimes with a goal of selecting a new family addition and other times simply wanting to have cuddle time with those pets waiting to be adopted.  I knew that that I always left these visits feeling uplifted by the wagging tails of the dogs and the purring and "biscuit making" of the cats.  Like I said, I thought I knew a lot. BUT... Since working with our staff and volunteers for...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kittens Kittens, Kittens!

Kittens...482 of them! Yes. you read that number that correctly. Since July 1st, the Lynchburg Humane Society has taken in 482 kittens under the age of 6 months. Of those, 260 were under 8 weeks old. We see day old kittens who need bottle feedings every 4 hours to litters of 6-week-old kittens who just need a little time to grow. The shelter is not a hospitable environment for a tiny unvaccinated kitten because of all the viruses and illnesses that can be present. Our foster program is instrumental in saving these precious lives. Since kittens are not able to be adopted until they are 8 weeks old, the foster program allows us the freedom to use the space at our Center for a pet that is ready for adoption. It also gives the kittens a jump start into socializing, staying healthy and learning what home life is all about. And another bonus - foster parents are really great at finding homes for their kittens! We have been asked about what affects kitten season and how do we handle it. S...
Post a Comment
Read more