March 23, 2012 Clinic

Shy Smokey

It would be hard to have worse weather than we had for the last clinic…and luckily, we didn’t! It was a lovely morning for meeting new people and pets and seeing returning participants.

Smokey the shy grey kitty was the first arrival. His mom, Deborah, recently lost her older dog and brought donations for the Norfolk Pet Pantry in his honor. Thanks!

Rocky

The morning’s first canine arrival was Rocky, an adorable chocolate brown Shih Tzu who was more than happy to pose for the camera. Rocky’s family hopes neutering him will help reduce his marking in the house and hyperactive behavior. This was a concern we heard more than once and is especially relevant when the weather gets warm and animals begin to mate and reproduce.

Keiree & Talia

Participants heard about our program through a number of sources, including mailed flyers, internet searches, and positive word of mouth.

To see more pictures from today’s clinic, please visit our facebook page. Make sure to “Like” us and “Like” our parent organization, Animal Rescue of Tidewater.

Look for us in the Virginian-Pilot

Today’s Virginian-Pilot includes our print advertisement about community cats:

If you care enough to feed them, care enough to fix them.

Free and low-cost spay/neuter is available for outdoor cats.

Female cats can become pregnant at 5 months of age and will mate with their offspring to produce hundreds of kittens over a short period of time. Finding homes for litter after litter is not a long-term solution, and with 3 out of 5 cats being put down, shelters are not a good option either. The cost of an outdoor cat spay/neuter is not much more than a large bag of cat food – which is what you’ll need a lot more of if you don’t fix them.

Please, make things easier on the cats, your neighbors, our shelters, and you. Fix the cats you feed.

To schedule a spay/neuter:

www.spayhr.org

757-456-1215

 

 

 

 

Moms Needs Moms (or Dads), Too

Even though we’ve had some very cold days and nights recently, we’ve enjoyed a rather temperate fall in Hampton Roads. This extension in the warm weather means more…and more…and more…kittens. We love the little cuties, but we need to give a shout out for their moms. Those of us in rescue know these kittens are more likely to get adopted than the moms, who languish in foster homes or shelters or don’t find homes at all.

Make a momma cat’s dream come true in 2012 and adopt her! Check out these lovely ladies just waiting for their own moms (or dads) now that the kids are all grown and out of the house:

Hildie

My name is Hildie, my shelter friends think I am 2 years old. I have spent the winter raising my family of seven, and my foster mom says I was the best mommy cat ever. Now that the kids are growing up, it’s time to find a home of my own. I would love a big family with other cats, lots of kids and a big hound if you’ve got one. I’m quite the diplomat and have gotten my foster mom’s dog to share scraps with me! I like to chat in the morning and prefer to hang out where the action is, particularly the kitchen counter, but I’ve been learning that humans don’t care for that! I like to chat with my humans in the morning. I prefer to hang out where the action is, particularly the kitchen counter, but I’ve been learning that humans don’t care for that! My nickname is Coyote, but I am learning my manners. Think you could find room for me? I promise you won’t be sorry!

Adopt Hildie from Norfolk Animal Care and Adoption Center.

Beatrice

Beatrice is the mother of Casper, Boogie, Black Stripe, Poker, Owl and Boo. As you can see from her pictures she seems to have some oriental in her line. She was found as a stray and needed a place to have her kittens, so we took her in. She is a very laid back cat; I think of her as my second dog! She is not much of a player, but does enjoy hanging out and being rubbed! She also loves looking out the window and just being at peace. She has been around dogs and does fine when not defending her kittens as she is quite the protective mamma! She is good with dogs, cats and reptiles and has also been around kids and does fine with them as well.

Adopt Beatrice through Animal Rescue of Tidewater.

Kiwi

My name is Kiwi and I came to Hope Center with my babies and I even nursed another litter that had no mom. I’m only 10 months old, a little bit shy, but very sweet. I’m spayed and current on my vaccines and I need a home.

Adopt Kiwi from Hope for Life Rescue, Inc.

Spaying project targets problem of Norfolk’s strays

From today’s Virginian-Pilot:

When David Downs started work at The Face Companies in Park Place, he noticed more than cars in the parking lot.

Stray cats seemed to enjoy the relative safety around the building and, over time, grew in number. Face Companies employees have fed and watered the cats for several years out of compassion, but became concerned about when kittens started showing up.

ead more here.

A “Thank You!” & A Response

We would like to thank Rev. Aaron Wheeler, host of “Let’s Talk About It” on WYRM 1110 AM radio, for having two of SpayHR’s representatives on his show Monday.

During the show, a gentleman called in to say he was hesitant to neuter his dog, because the dog enjoys sexual activity. His was a similar reaction to one we faced a few weeks ago, while passing out flyers on a Friday evening. In some cases, citing the statistics or health and behavior benefits of spay/neuter offers a larger context in which people with this argument will consider altering their pets. In some cases, these facts are not persuasive.

One benefit to spaying/neutering that many residents in Norfolk may not know about relates to the length of time a stray animal is given to be found. As unaltered dogs and cats are more likely to stray, this information is very relevant to people like the caller to Rev. Wheeler’s show. Let’s use the caller’s male dog as an example:

A male dog without identification (i.e., no tags, no microchip) but who is neutered will have a longer stray hold at Norfolk Animal Care Center (animal control for the city of Norfolk) than a male dog without identification who is not neutered. A longer stray hold gives the dog’s owner more time to find him. It also gives the dog more time to become comfortable in the shelter and thus a more viable candidate for adoption.

So, an unaltered dog without identification has only has five days at the shelter. After that five days, if no one has come to claim the dog, he can either be made available for adoption, transferred to a rescue organization, or euthanized. Alternately, a similarly unidentified male dog who has been neutered has ten days at the shelter.

 

An interesting evening…

Last Friday evening, volunteers distributed flyers in one of the target neighborhoods for the Norfolk Pet Project. An important benefit of flyering is making personal connections with the residents of these neighborhoods. We often meet people who are excited to work with us; they wanted to help their own pets (and the animals in their communities) but just weren’t sure what to do or did not have the resources to do it.

Friday evening was a different experience…

One volunteer ran across two young men planning to stud out their male dogs. One felt he needed to get his money back for buying such an expensive “pure bred” dog; the other said he knew all the reasons he shouldn’t breed his dog, but planned to do so anyways.  As the owners of male dogs, these young men would likely not be involved in the pregnancy or raising and selling of puppies, so the stakes and level of involvement are pretty low for them. Compassion is a hard argument against making money.

Another volunteer met a woman who thought it was inhumane to deny animals sexual pleasure. The woman felt we were taking away their “fun”. We were left to wonder if she thinks the hundreds of animals that entered Norfolk shelters in the month of May alone are NOT having fun, waiting for homes and in many cases not finding them.

What do we say to these people? The statistics aren’t compelling, nor are the arguments for better behavior and health.

The oddest reaction we faced, though, was from a woman who believed that shelter animals in Norfolk were put down because of a lack of food. We quickly assured her that there is food; food is not lacking, fortunately. What is lacking are people who will help control overpopulation by spaying/neutering their companion animals or adopting shelter animals.

Though frustrating and a little heartbreaking, Friday even was an interesting learning experience.

July 9, 2010 Clinic

Glenwood Park Civic League yard

For out sixth clinic, we moved to the Glenwood Park neighborhood off Hampton Boulevard.

Neighborhood dogs filled the clinic’s canine slots, but there was only a small showing for Glenwood Park cats. We know you’re out there, kitties!

While spay/neuter is important for all companion animals, it is especially important for cats, who have higher euthanasia numbers at shelters, especially during the warm months (aka “kitten season”).

Charles & Daisy

Charles Methvin filled a last minute cancellation (why cancel? it’s free!) and brought his white Shih Tzu, Angel, to be  spayed. Daisy, who is also part of Charles’ family, is already spayed but came to support Sugar on her big day.

Sugar May

Charles’ Sugar joined another Sugar at the clinic that day: Amy May brought her own Sugar to be spayed. Sugar May has another canine companion  and two bunnies at home.

Speaking of sweet treats, Andrea Menture brought her cat Fluffernutter to be neutered. Andrea does

Fluffernutter

not want him to get her other cat pregnant and plans to bring her younger cat to the next clinic to be spayed.

We’ve been very happy to see repeat “customers” for our clinics. Lindsay Harding  returned to have her dog, Levi, and cat, Sailor, neutered. She participated in our first clinic in April where she had her dog Kira spayed. Thanks for your support, Lindsay!

Eric with Boris & Luke

Eric Alibangbang brought his handsome dogs, Boris and Luke, to be neutered. He does not want them mating with other dogs.

Echoing this sentiment was Jenifer Bashum, who brought her terrier mix, Lady, to be spayed. Jennifer does not want Lady to have any puppies.

Shala

There are many benefits to spaying and neutering our companion animals. Aside from helping to reduce overpopulation (and ultimately euthanasia), we can help them live better lives. Sameerah Brown brought her gorgeous little girl, Shala, to be spayed. Sameerah said that Shala cries to much when she is in heat and she just wants her to be happier.

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the clinic!

Spay/neuter saves lives

At the first NPP clinic on April 16, 2010, 8 dogs and 20 cats were spayed/neutered.

How many lives were saved?

The average female dog can produce one litter of 4-6 puppies in a year. Multiply that number by 8, and you get 40 puppies. The average female cat can have two litters of 4-6 kittens in a year. Multiply that by 20, and you get 200.[i]

In 2009, 2458 cats (including kittens) and 2572 dogs (including puppies) were sheltered at Norfolk Animal Care Center, the city of Norfolk’s municipal animal control facility. Of those cats, 1919 (an average of 56%) were euthanized humanely; for dogs the number is 983 (an average of 38%).

If only half of the potential cats and dogs not born because of the April 16 clinic ended up at the city shelter, 56 cats/kittens and 5-6 dogs/puppies would have been euthanized. The wonderful residents of Oakdale Farms, Denby Park, and Southern Shopping Center who participated in the clinic saved at least 62 lives. When you combine the average reproduction rates for cats and dogs with rates for their unaltered offspring, the lives saved by spay/neuter over a five year period is thousands! [ii]

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[i] 40 and 200 are actually low estimates, as feral cats can go into heat 16 weeks after their first litter, thus increasing the number of litters they can produce. Many of the cats spayed at the clinic were feral or outdoor cats. Additionally, male cats and dogs can impregnate a high number of females in a given year, so the numbers of kittens or puppies produced could be higher.

[ii] 11,800 for cats and 12,288 for dogs; see http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/sterilization.html, http://www.secondchanceforanimals.org/spay_or_neuter.htm, http://www.humanesocietyall.com/spayneuter/ and http://www.saintfrancispetfoundation.org/services.html for more information about these estimates.

Truth In Numbers

Our Norfolk Pet Project spay/neuter campaign is based in large part on the Humane Society of the United States’ “Truth in Numbers” campaign.  This thorough study (which is ongoing) focuses on animal homelessness and public opinion on spay/neuter in Louisiana and Mississippi about animal homelessness and people’s willingness to spay/neuter their pets.