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.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves

A Norfolk resident who has been working with us to control the community cat population in her neighborhood sent the following email to Mayor Fraim:

Dear Mayor Fraim:

I am writing to express my support for Spay Hampton Roads, a project
of the nonprofit Animal Rescue of Tidewater.  As recently mentioned in
The Virginian Pilot, Spay Hampton Roads offers free sterilization of
free-roaming animals and house pets in certain low-income
neighborhoods of Norfolk. The program is funded primarily through
grants and donations and uses PETA’s SNIP-Mobile, the Norfolk SPCA and
the Virginia Beach SPCA Neuter Scooter.

SpayHR has been a lifesaver for my neighborhood!  I have been living
in the Estabrook section of Norfolk for almost four years now.  Soon
after moving in, I discovered that there was a large number of feral
cats who roamed freely in the neighborhood, and they were rapidly
multiplying in number.  The first summer after I moved in, a female
feral had a litter of six kittens in the crawlspace of my house, and
after making several phone calls to different rescue agencies in the
area to find out what to do with them, it was apparent that the cat
population in Norfolk was overwhelming, and the local shelters were
filled to the brim.  I learned that the only solution to my dilemma
was to try to foster the kittens until they could be adopted, and to
try to trap the mother cat so she could be spayed and vaccinated.  I
did so, and paid out of pocket for all of the veterinary care for the
the cats.  As you can imagine, it was an expensive venture which set
me back several hundred dollars.

In the process of fostering the six kittens, I was lucky enough to be
put in contact with many other rescue agencies, foster families, and
volunteers in our area.  I was amazed to hear their stories and
discover that not only was my neighborhood overrun with feral cats,
but so were many, many other neighborhoods, not just in Norfolk, but
all over the Tidewater area.

Eventually I was put in contact with SpayHR, and I learned that they
would pay for the cats in my neighborhood to be neutered/spayed and
vaccinated.  This was wonderful news to me and to my neighbors as
well, as all of us were concerned about the cat issue, but none of us
knew where to turn.

As a result of the SpayHR initiative, at least a dozen cats from my
neighborhood have been sterilized and vaccinated in the past couple of
months alone.  Two rescued kittens are in the process of being
fostered and will eventually be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and
adopted when they are old enough.  Several kittens have already been
successfully adopted as a result of SpayHR’s help.

Now the local business owners who have been feeding this colony of
cats have been made aware of the program and are cooperating with the
trapping efforts as well.  For the first time since I moved to this
neighborhood, there is hope and help for the management of this very
large colony of cats.  Without SpayHR, these cats would continue to
reproduce, fight amongst themselves over territory and mates, and be
forced to scavenge for food as their numbers increased.  I am so
grateful and excited that this program exists, and I offer my complete
support for its continued success!

Thank you for what your office is doing to support this valuable
program, and thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Sincerely,

S.G.

* to protect the writer’s privacy, we’ve only included initials

Watch us on Norfolk Perspectives- Channel 48

A representative from Spay Hampton Roads will be a guest on Norfolk Perspectives this Sunday, July 17, at 8am and 8pm. Stephanie Herman, Friends of Norfolk Animal Care Center treasurer, will also be a guest on the show to discuss the importance and benefits of spay/neuter in Norfolk.

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.

 

Cat fight!

In this corner, Neighbor A, who has been feeding stray and feral cats. In that corner, Neighbor B, who wants the cats gone.

Round 1: Neighbor B is tired of the cats using his flowerbed as a litterbox and creating a noise with their fighting.

Neighbor A feels bad for the cats, who seem hungry and without homes. He isn’t crazy about their fighting and outdoor bathroom habits, either, but he doesn’t mind too much and kind of likes having them around.

Round 2: Neighbor A notices more cats. Here and there, adults have added themselves to the mix, and litters of kittens keep being born by females who are already part of the group. He’s becoming a little overwhelmed now.

Neighbor B is really getting annoyed now; there are so many cats!

Round 3: Neighbor B has started trapping the cats and taking them to the shelter, where they will very likely be euthanized, especially at this time of year.

Neighbor A doesn’t want the cats killed, but he doesn’t know what to do.

After 3 rounds, is there a winner? No.

Why?

Neighbor A’s compassion is admirable, but he’s not helping the cats in the long run.

Neighbor B won’t reduce the cat population by trapping them to be killed. There are always more cats, and as long as at least a few who can reproduce are left, there will be more to come.

The cats are being fed but as their numbers multiply, there is more competition for food and other resources. Their numbers are not sustainable in their current situation or in a shelter.

Round 4: Neighbor A finds help from our organization. We show him how to trap the cats, so that they can be spayed/neutered, ear tipped, and vaccinated, then returned to their home environment. This is TNR (trap-neuter-return). He talks to Neighbor B about TNR and how it can help control the cat population. He also offers deterrents that will keep the cats out of Neighbor B’s yard.

After 4 rounds, we’re closer to having multiple winners. With time and effort, Neighbor A can help both the cats and his neighbors. Though not taking an active role in a solution (yet?), Neighbor B has more information and a better understanding of the solution. The cats have a better informed caretaker and their population is on the way to being controlled humanely.

This entry was inspired by conversations SpayHR volunteers have had with residents in Norfolk Pet Project neighborhoods, spay/neuter clinic participants, and people visiting local shelters.

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.

Is this why some people don’t spay/neuter?

Who says we animal advocates don’t have a sense of humor…

Pet Owner Not Bothering to Neuter Loser Cat