Abandonments soar, leaving too many cats to face 1 of 2 fates: living on streets or dying in shelters
December 3, 2003
BY KIM NORTH SHINE
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
On a chilly, late-November morning a woman walked into the Dearborn Animal Shelter to give up two pets, a new mother cat and its kitten.
HELP KEEP THE POPULATION IN CHECK
Adopt a cat from a shelter rather than buying from breeders or breeding your own.
Spay or neuter your cat. Humane societies, municipalities and veterinarians offer low-cost sterilizations. Visit www.pets911.com for low-cost sterilization sites or call the Michigan Humane Society, 248-799-7400; the Humane Society of the United States, 202-452-1100, and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 212-876-7700.
Don't let cats roam. In seven years, a female cat and her offspring could theoretically produce 420,000 cats.
Feed pet cats indoors; don't leave food out for unknown neighborhood cats.
Check out the shelter's euthanasia policies before taking the animal there.
To adopt a cat from a shelter or a foster home, call one of the agencies listed above or visit:
www.dearborn-animals.com; www.petfinder.org, and www.michiganhumane.org.
To adopt the cats in the photos accompanying this story, call the Dearborn Animal Shelter at 313-943-2697. Mango is the black-and-white cat. Snowflake is the kitten being treated for a respiratory ailment; she is expected to recover.
Sources: Humane Society of the United States, Michigan Humane Society and metro Detroit shelters.
She was told there was no room for more cats and that she should look for a shelter in her hometown of Detroit.
As she drove away, the woman tossed the crate with the cats onto the road at the parking lot exit, feet from a busy intersection.
Such abandonments are becoming more common, shelter operators say, as cats overrun shelters, taking up every last bit of cage space and then some. The crowded conditions are forcing shelters to turn away felines, kill them at faster rates and figure out new ways to find homes in order to clear out cages for the never-ending procession of new arrivals.
The Michigan Humane Society's Detroit shelter won't turn away cats, but will expedite lethal injections in order to free up cages. There, the cat population is up about 1,500 cats from January to October compared with the same period last year, spokeswoman Nancy Gunnigle said.
All three Michigan Humane Society shelters took in 22,452 cats last year. The Dearborn Animal Shelter's cat population was at 204 Tuesday, up 150 from last year, executive director Elaine Greene said.
The increase, which is being seen at other shelters across the city, state and country, is the result of years of over-breeding and the belief that it's OK for cats to run loose, say animal welfare professionals.
Though cats are America's most-common pet -- 77.6 million living in households -- their owners spend about half as much on them -- for medical care, spaying and neutering and other upkeep -- as dog owners spend.
"We don't see the litters of pups like we used to because people are getting the message about spaying and neutering their dogs, but when it comes to cats, they're just not doing it," Greene said.
The blame for the abundant cat population is also falling on well-meaning people who feed an ever-growing number of orphan cats.
"It's a combination of things, but we certainly are seeing an explosion, and we're seeing it nationwide," said Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for the Humane Society of the United States.
Shain added that the neglect ends up costing taxpayers more money to catch, house, feed and often kill unwanted cats.
Each year in Michigan, tens of thousands of cats die by lethal injection or gassing, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture. Nationwide, about 3 million cats are killed in shelters annually, animal groups say.
Space is limited
Even the last stop for many homeless cats -- the volunteer rescue outfits that place shelters' death-row kitties in foster homes, saving their lives until new owners are found -- are running out of room. Some foster homes are breaking local ordinances that limit the number of pets per household.
A tour of the cluttered, chaotic Dearborn Animal Shelter, a nonprofit that works with the city's animal-control officers by sharing shelter space and funding, is a stark example of cat crowding.
Where vehicles and equipment were once stored, caged cats are now stacked nearly floor to ceiling. In a room once reserved for sick puppies, kittens have taken over. In the shelter parking lot, a rented trailer houses more unwanted cats, mostly sick ones needing isolation.
Veterinarians and a nearby Petsmart storeare helping out by keeping more than a dozen cats.
The two cats that were discarded in the shelter's parking lot were placed in a makeshift cage and are awaiting adoption.
Dumping animals outside of shelters is so common that signs are posted on doors and windows warning of criminal prosecution. Still, dogs are regularly tied to buildings, and boxes of kittens are left on sidewalks in the middle of the night.
Sgt. Heidi Hawley, kennel manager for Oakland County Animal Control, said a lack of laws dealing with roaming cats contributes to the problem: "We really need something that specifically addresses cats."
The cat population at Oakland County Animal Control has reached 200 at times this year. "That's our limit. We're packed," Hawley said.
The number is currently down because a virus, panleukopenia, spread through the shelter, forcing large-scale euthanasia, Hawley said.
At Macomb County Animal Control, the number of cats is down due to colder weather and a viral outbreak, said Sue Jeroue, chief animal-control officer.
"I see the illness as natural population control. It's what happens when an a species overpopulates," Jeroue said. Until about three weeks ago, the Humane Society of Huron Valley's cat population strained the shelter. It's been under control since the start of a model program with Pet Supplies "Plus," said Sherry Silk.
The retailer is housing cats in 20 cages at its store on Plymouth and Ann Arbor roads.
"This is giving us a new way to get these cats homes and giving us more space," she said.
Meanwhile, Greene said she fears the Dearborn shelter, which has plans to build a larger facility and hopes to avoid canceling its no-kill policy for adoptable animals, is facing financial hardship.
She said she'd hate to return to the policy of killing cats after four days.
The animals "deserve better," she said. "These animals can bring so much happiness."
story found here
Contact KIM NORTH SHINE at 313-223-4557 or kshine@freepress.com.