Spay/neuter seems like a simple concept right? Spaying and neutering cuts down on the number of unwanted pets that in many cases end up at shelters or even worse are left to fend for themselves out in the elements.
You can’t go on Facebook without seeing spay neuter clinics at a discount or in some cases free. Yet we still have people who do not alter their pets. We have people who breed continuously so they can sell cats and kittens for $15.
For them it is about the money not the value of a life. Kittens have kittens and it becomes out of control to the point that the cats and kittens find their way to other people’s houses and if they are lucky enough they are rescued and cared for. What about the ones that never make it out? It breaks my heart to even think about that.
(Lorraine Monfils/Ark Animal Sanctuary)
In the rescue world we are the ones that see the aftermath of the people who do not neuter or spay. We try to save lifeless kittens that were born in wood piles or under porches. We see the ones that have become injured or who are sick and at times it just rips your heart out, but you keep going because for everyone you help that is a life saved.
For the ones that don’t make it, you take comfort in the fact that they did not die alone and that they knew love for the brief time they were in your care. There are days you just feel like giving up, but you don’t because it is not in your DNA.
Not a day goes by that the phone does not ring. Pregnant cats with no place to go, injured kittens or people who have moved away and left their pets behind.
Over the weekend we took in a pregnant female who had taken up residence in someone’s barn. This summer she had delivered five kittens in someone else’s garage. We took in the kittens at 6 weeks and our intentions were to go back and trap her because we believed she was feral.
Unfortunately we did not get to her in time and she was already pregnant again. She is now at the Ark where she will have her kittens in a safe, warm clean place. We have named her Sylvie and she is just a kitten herself. Just a kitten and already on her second litter of kittens. Sylvie seems grateful to be inside where her food and water dishes are never empty. She is not feral like we believed she was just scared. She welcomes the human touch and likes to have her big belly rubbed. She is such a sweetheart. I think she realizes she is safe and that her life is about to get a whole lot better.
If this article convinces just one person to neuter or spay their pet then that is a plus and progress has been made. That is not to say that we still don’t have work to do.
Thank you for your continued support and as always thank you for reading our column.
The Ark Animal Sanctuary is located on 101 Old Woodstock Road. To contact Lorraine Monfils call 207-532-7387 or check out their Facebook page.
