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Keep in mind that her aunt's kittens are now tame and it would be cruel to not even try to give them homes. To abandon them at this stage, they'd be helpless and scared. As they are already used to people.
It would be more humane to have tame kittens euthanized than to have them roam around with no home to go to after they're already been tamed. True feral cats is another issue.
Yes--I think we are all in agreement here. Tame kitties and litters that can be saved like the one STLCardsBLues helped can be adopted if possible. True feral colonies can be TNR and given some support but left to their own devices mainly.
I think until we can either get a mass spay/neuter law in place or until the insane numbers go down I think my idea is the best.
keep in mind most kittens born do not live happily ever after in a loving home. In some shelters the put down rate of kittens can excced 75%
If you cant afford to spay/neuter them go to AC and they offer low income solutions to the spay/neuter issue.
no doubt about THAT at all.....
but we are also working in the real world here..... it takes considerable time and effort to sway people's long ingrained belief system about animals, among MANY other things......
and if you had read this thread, you would know that blues/cards is in a smallish, semi-rural town in southern missouri...... there really is no AC nearby and the closest one will not help her because she does not live in the correct city or county......
i for one choose to be a bricklayer.... not a lecturer......
There's a place an hour-and-a-half away that offers spay and neuters for cheap. BUT my great-aunt makes too much on Social Security to qualify for that.
There's no spay and neuter program in her county, either.
Still no call back from the shelters. They may end up bound for the pound if she can't give them away. Nobody seems to have any room.
She can't just fix them and let them go. If she does that, they'll get hit by cars, killed by dogs, killed by wild animals. It's just not a good idea for tame cats to be made feral in her area. She's had her own cats get chased into the woods and killed by her neighbor's dogs.
If I don't hear back from any shelter this weekend, I might just have to tell my great-aunt to try to give the kittens away. And the rest may end up in the pound. There's nothing else I can do. I can't take them in myself. I can't pay to spay 5 female kittens and a momma cat. I don't have an extra $600+ lying around. I don't know anybody who does. She does not qualify for low-cost spay/neuter 1) because there is not one in her county 2)The place where there is one won't accept her because she makes too much on social security (for that you can't make more than $1,500/month for a couple). I don't know what else any of us can do.
Her county has a pound. Mine doesn't at all. Unwanted animals in my county get given away or dumped. The nearest pounds won't take pets outside their county. At least she does have a pound. For me, when I had the feral momma cat, the pound wasn't an option for the kittens. We don't have a pound. But my aunt's county does have one.
I think sometimes people in the city don't realize that we don't have an ASPCA, we don't have low-cost spay-and-neuters. Even the closest place that spays ferals is in St. Louis, and my aunt's cats aren't feral. Some of the counties here (like mine) don't even have a pound. We don't have dog catchers. My aunt's county has animal control. They'll come trap the animal for you (though not in my county) but then they take it to be euthanized. You have very few options here, unless you have enough to spay the animal. In one of the poorest counties in Missouri (though my family is doing alright), it's hard to convince people to spay an animal. For a lot of people, it's spay the cat or go to the dentist. Or spay the cat, or buy clothes for the kids. For most people around here, spaying and neutering animals is just not a priority. People are busy trying to afford doctor visits and buy clothes and put gas in the car. I can see why spaying here is not a priority for most people. Most simply can't afford it. And most of these people probably still make too much to qualify for low cost spay-and-neuter. If they do qualify, they have to live in one of two counties, fill out a form, etc.
To qualify for low cost spay-and-neuter, they must make no more than 33,075 for a family of four. And you have to live in one of two counties (neither of which are mine or my aunt's). That's 150% of the poverty line. The median income for a family is $42,713 and $33,101 in the two counties. Most people don't qualify anyway.
What else am I supposed to do?
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 09-24-2009 at 02:36 PM..
Take adorable pictures of each kitty and post a new thread asking people to adopt them. Post in both the Cats forum and the St. Louis forum. I bet you get some takers. We already had one offer for one of your colony early in the thread, though for some reason you never took them up on it that I know of. Maybe they'd be willing to take one of your Aunt's.
We found homes for my male kittens already and my female kittens are staying here, once they get spayed.
I'll see if my aunt can mail me some pictures. I could probably then scan and post them. Although anyone who wants one would have to come down here and get it. If any of you could take one I would appreciate it.
She'll send me some pictures as soon as she gets them. Her niece couldn't take a kitten after all, so she has 6 female kittens to give away and one momma cat. She only has been able to give away the black male kitten so far. She's leaving for a long trip October 2, so she has to do something by then.
i have a standing offer to head down there as soon as something can be worked out..... have been in dm contact with cards/blues about shelters and rescues here.....
not looking very good for the kitties though..... shelters and rescues are full to the rafters with kitties...... as we all know, they are more prolific than bunnies....... ..... my house is full with 2 cats and 2 dogs, one dog i am still getting settled.... or i would take some off of her hands.......
We found homes for my male kittens already and my female kittens are staying here, once they get spayed.
I'll see if my aunt can mail me some pictures. I could probably then scan and post them. Although anyone who wants one would have to come down here and get it. If any of you could take one I would appreciate it.
She'll send me some pictures as soon as she gets them. Her niece couldn't take a kitten after all, so she has 6 female kittens to give away and one momma cat. She only has been able to give away the black male kitten so far. She's leaving for a long trip October 2, so she has to do something by then.
Can you ship a kitten?
are the kitties indoor kitties?? if she leaves, could someone go over and feed them for a while until we get something sorted out??
if homes or rescues out of the area are found, i can take care of getting them up here and we can figure out a way to get them on a transport to wherever they need to go.......
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..... my house is full with 2 cats and 2 dogs, one dog i am still getting settled.... or i would take some off of her hands.......
