Did you have a happy Thanksgiving?
I sure did, spending a quiet day counting my blessings and playing with my two
little kittens, whom I got from Island Cat Resources and Adoption (ICRA, for
short).
Except they're not so little
anymore. We celebrated their six-month birthday last weekend.
And, as often happens with cats,
they've acquired some more nicknames. Sally is called Squeaky because she
squeaks (it's very cute) and Pepe is called Fuzzy because she's, well, fuzzy.
Collectively, they're the Peegees, short for Pizza Girls.
Their brother Sterling – Oops! Make
that Ralph – is doing well in his new home, too.
That's the good news. The bad news
is that they are pretty much the last ICRA cats to find new homes. Nobody has
adopted any more at ICRA's Saturday mobile adoption clinics at PetCo in
Alameda, and they haven't had any hits on their website in six weeks.
Black cats and kittens are having
an especially hard time, as are black-and-white cats. I don't know why, but
people have this weird prejudice, as if the old myth about black cats being bad
luck is true.
(Ironically, they have an easy time
getting adopted in England because the English, on the other hand, believe
black cats bring good luck!)
As a result, ICRA now has more than
60 cats and kittens piling up in foster homes. As they get bigger, they're
going to become less attractive to potential adopters because everyone wants
little babies. And there are more kittens being born all the time, waiting to
take their place
It's the same story with other
animal rescue groups. I talked with Megan Webb, director of the Oakland Animal Shelter,
and she's up to her limit in cats, too.
"But we're even more
overloaded with little dogs," she says. "Not just Chihuahuas, but
poodles and terriers, too. I had to send 40 dogs to the Idaho Humane Society
last week because they'll have a better chance finding new homes up there, and
I'll be sending another 20 this week.
"People have weird notions
about little dogs being hyper and yappy, but the truth is that many of the little
dogs in our shelter are as laid-back and mellow as golden retrievers."
The obvious solution in the long
run is to decrease the population, which is why many groups like ICRA emphasize
spay/neuter surgeries. (You can support this effort with a tax-deductible
donation.)
But in the short run, these little
cats and dogs desperately need new homes. I know times are hard, but now that
we're in the Holiday season, can you find room in your home – and your heart –
for a furry, four-footed bundle of love?
Please check out the adorable
kitties at ICRA's website, www.icraeastbay.org,
as well as the cats and dogs on the websites of the Oakland Animal Shelter,
Berkeley Animal Shelter, Alameda Shelter, Oakland SPCA, Berkeley Humane
Society, Home At Last, Hopalong, Fix Our Ferals, Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue
Foundation and other animal groups.
Gandhi was right: "You can judge the morality of a nation by the way the society
treats its animals."
P.S. congratulations to the
Montclair Women's Big Band, one of the swinging-est aggregations around, which will
celebrate its 15th anniversary with an all-star concert this Sunday,
Nov. 25, at Yoshi's. Be there or be square.
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