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by Suzyn Barron, President of Warwick Valley Humane Society, Inc.
Did you know if you choose to feed a stray cat that has wandered into your yard and if you do not spay or neuter that cat, you will soon have another and then another until suddenly you have an uncontrolled colony? You should by now.
Some of the kittens will not survive, while some others will be injured or become sick with upper respiratory, wounds and eye infections. If this hasn’t happened to you yet, statistics prove that it will. Unless you do the right thing and SPAY and NEUTER the friendly and feral stray before it becomes an out-of-control problem for you, the cats and your neighbors.
As a primary example, the shelter received a recent phone call on a Saturday afternoon about an injured feral cat. Experience has taught us that the cat would have to be trapped in order to help it. The shelter called upon one of their expert “TNR” (trap-neuter-release) volunteers to the get the cat. First time out to the property she was unable to trap the cat with the broken leg but ended up rescuing 9 other young adults and kittens! Three of them had ruptured eyes and another with a gaping wound from its neck to its chest. A ruptured eye is a bloody globe hanging out of the eye socket due to untreated infections. A horrible sight not for the faint of heart. Admitting nine cats to the shelter at once required shuffling around other cats to make immediate room. Despite the late weekend day, the shelter was able to contact Country Willow Veterinary Hospital for triage care for these newly admitted felines and schedule emergency surgeries for the four suffering from their injuries. Naming them all after characters from the musical “CATS”, Etcetera’s open wound was addressed first along with vaccinations and neutering. AsparaGUS, Rumpus and Rum Tum Tugger will require enucleations, surgical procedure to remove the entire eyeball, and be neutered and vaccinated too. These surgeries are extensive, expensive and necessary for these unfortunate felines.
The TNR volunteer returned to the property determined to trap the cat with the broken leg and caught him the next day. Sadly, Skimbleshanks has endured a broken leg for over a week and may have to have his leg amputated. Another costly surgery with a long recovery.
What could easily have been prevented by utilizing our SpayNeuterReturn certificate program thus obtaining a low cost spay/neuter for the first stray is now a large financial strain time 10 on the shelter. Our Critical Care Fund is at an all-time low after a year of one medical emergency after another. The upcoming Holidays are a time of giving. Please consider a special gift towards this emergency fund for these “CATS” at wvhumane.org or mail to WVHS P.O. Box 61, Warwick, NY 10990. Your support makes it possible for our organization to never turn a blind eye to an animal’s suffering for which we are always grateful.
“Rescue is not just a verb, it’s a promise” ~ Albert Einstein
Pet of the Week below:
Adoption applications are available at wvhumane.org or call 845-986-2473 for more information.
