Our daily thread for Monday April 23rd!

[airprincess]

Happy monday everyone! hope that everyones weekend was wonderful. I had a great weekend. I'm very happy with my new car and per my thread about my kitties breaking through their fear, I can't stop smiling. I can honestly say the experience has changed me.

when i adopted them i was looking for an easy pet. the joke was on me because i ended up with opposite. it's been a daily struggle with them, and i have cried many times out of despair (i know that's a strong word, but when they would spend all of their time hiding under the dresser, and never coming near me, that is how i felt) and absolute utter frustration. my boyfriend suggested taking them back and rescueing some cats who were already tame and older and just needed a good home. i told him i COULDN'T give up, and I wouldn't be able to deal with the fact that they could be put down if i took them back. the fact that there were 2 of them, and getting them out, catching them and putting them up one at a time, and the guilt of not being able to spend as much time as i wanted (any where from 4 to 6 hours an evening) really took it's toll on me. but i only bring this up to bring home the point of how absolutely wonderful i feel. i don't think i've ever felt such satisfaction. i'm so glad now that it happened the way it did. i have grown from this. it's still hard but i now have seen the results that that make it all feel worth while and to revitalize my efforts.

today is a beautiful day!

 

[donna]

Hi everybody!

Well, Georgie is in his new home. The family came yesterday and took him home. I received a call last night from my friend Theresa who took him. She he has adjusted very well and loves all the attention he's getting. That's one success story.

Another success story. Octavia, a beautiful long hair black and white female whose human was put into a convalescent home got a home with an elderly woman whose cat passed away a month ago. I spoke with her this morning and she is so happy. She said that Octavia is the most wonderful, loving cat she's ever met.

I'd also like to show you a piece that was published in this morning's paper about spay/neuter. Let me know what you guys think. I value your opinion.

Bring Back Pet Sterilization Program
By DONNA E. PLOSS
The Hartford Courant
April 23, 2001

The first time I fed Shadow, a beautiful wild male tuxedo cat who has been living on the streets of Hartford for more than 10 years, he chowed down as if it were his last meal.

Shadow lives in an abandoned building littered with garbage and empty booze bottles. I can't image how a cat can survive in such filth. But Shadow is one of the few lucky cats. He gets seven square meals a week and has a place to keep him out of the rain and snow. He has people who care about him.

Calls come into local shelters and rescue groups all the time to come trap cats like Shadow. Come spring, the calls flood in as kittens are born to feral mothers. A litter of kittens, if not caught and socialized before they reach 6 weeks, will also become feral and unadoptable. A fertile female cat can produce up to three litters of kittens a year.

People do not realize, nor do they care, that trapping such cats and having them altered takes time and money that volunteers cannot afford.

The Animal Population Control Program was set up in 1995 to help with this problem. It provides reduced-cost vaccination and sterilization for animals adopted from municipal pounds. People pay a $45 deposit for two vaccinations and a sterilization. The adopter then receives a $20 refund.

If an adopted animal is later abandoned, at least it won't have litters of puppies or kittens that may themselves be abandoned.

But the state has temporarily suspended this worthwhile program because it has dipped below its funding level.

The Animal Population Control Program is paid for mostly through a surcharge on license fees for unaltered dogs. A portion of sales of "Caring for Pets" license plates goes to the program as well. According to statute, the commissioner of agriculture can suspend the program when money in its account dips below $400,000. For a while last year, the account had dropped to $300,000. The program is apparently so successful that it spends more in sterilizing and vaccinating animals than the state can collect in license and other fees.

A bill that received the unanimous approval of the legislature's Environment Committee would change the amount paid for an animal's adoption to a flat $35 fee, with no refund. In exchange, the new owner would receive a voucher for the pet's sterilization and rabies vaccination, good for 60 days after adoption. Since such procedures can cost $50 and up for a cat and $100 and up for a dog, that's a good deal. That bill would also lower the account-suspension threshold to $300,000.

Both these changes would allow the program to restart right away and would keep it running longer.

Without this program, irresponsible owners will not sterilize or vaccinate pets they adopt from a pound and later abandon. The pounds will end up with the kittens and puppies of these abandoned pets; many of them will have to be euthanized.

Until the state revives the spay/neuter program, the door has shut on a problem that will not go away, and I will continue feeding feral cats and their offspring that didn't ask to be abandoned.

Donna E. Ploss of Wethersfield is a Courant news clerk who volunteers with Helping Paws, a nonprofit animal rescue group based in Colchester.

 

[donna]

Originally posted by donna
Hi everybody!

Well, Georgie is in his new home. The family came yesterday and took him home. I received a call last night from my friend Theresa who took him. She he has adjusted very well and loves all the attention he's getting. That's one success story.

Another success story. Octavia, a beautiful long hair black and white female whose human was put into a convalescent home got a home with an elderly woman whose cat passed away a month ago. I spoke with her this morning and she is so happy. She said that Octavia is the most wonderful, loving cat she's ever met.

I'd also like to show you a piece that was published in this morning's paper about spay/neuter. Let me know what you guys think. I value your opinion.

Bring Back Pet Sterilization Program
By DONNA E. PLOSS
The Hartford Courant
April 23, 2001

The first time I fed Shadow, a beautiful wild male tuxedo cat who has been living on the streets of Hartford for more than 10 years, he chowed down as if it were his last meal.

Shadow lives in an abandoned building littered with garbage and empty booze bottles. I can't image how a cat can survive in such filth. But Shadow is one of the few lucky cats. He gets seven square meals a week and has a place to keep him out of the rain and snow. He has people who care about him.

Calls come into local shelters and rescue groups all the time to come trap cats like Shadow. Come spring, the calls flood in as kittens are born to feral mothers. A litter of kittens, if not caught and socialized before they reach 6 weeks, will also become feral and unadoptable. A fertile female cat can produce up to three litters of kittens a year.

People do not realize, nor do they care, that trapping such cats and having them altered takes time and money that volunteers cannot afford.

The Animal Population Control Program was set up in 1995 to help with this problem. It provides reduced-cost vaccination and sterilization for animals adopted from municipal pounds. People pay a $45 deposit for two vaccinations and a sterilization. The adopter then receives a $20 refund.

If an adopted animal is later abandoned, at least it won't have litters of puppies or kittens that may themselves be abandoned.

But the state has temporarily suspended this worthwhile program because it has dipped below its funding level.

The Animal Population Control Program is paid for mostly through a surcharge on license fees for unaltered dogs. A portion of sales of "Caring for Pets" license plates goes to the program as well. According to statute, the commissioner of agriculture can suspend the program when money in its account dips below $400,000. For a while last year, the account had dropped to $300,000. The program is apparently so successful that it spends more in sterilizing and vaccinating animals than the state can collect in license and other fees.

A bill that received the unanimous approval of the legislature's Environment Committee would change the amount paid for an animal's adoption to a flat $35 fee, with no refund. In exchange, the new owner would receive a voucher for the pet's sterilization and rabies vaccination, good for 60 days after adoption. Since such procedures can cost $50 and up for a cat and $100 and up for a dog, that's a good deal. That bill would also lower the account-suspension threshold to $300,000.

Both these changes would allow the program to restart right away and would keep it running longer.

Without this program, irresponsible owners will not sterilize or vaccinate pets they adopt from a pound and later abandon. The pounds will end up with the kittens and puppies of these abandoned pets; many of them will have to be euthanized.

Until the state revives the spay/neuter program, the door has shut on a problem that will not go away, and I will continue feeding feral cats and their offspring that didn't ask to be abandoned.

Donna E. Ploss of Wethersfield is a Courant news clerk who volunteers with Helping Paws, a nonprofit animal rescue group based in Colchester.

 

[donna]

Originally posted by donna

Originally posted by donna
Hi everybody!

Well, Georgie is in his new home. The family came yesterday and took him home. I received a call last night from my friend Theresa who took him. She he has adjusted very well and loves all the attention he's getting. That's one success story.

Another success story. Octavia, a beautiful long hair black and white female whose human was put into a convalescent home got a home with an elderly woman whose cat passed away a month ago. I spoke with her this morning and she is so happy. She said that Octavia is the most wonderful, loving cat she's ever met.

I'd also like to show you a piece that was published in this morning's paper about spay/neuter. Let me know what you guys think. I value your opinion.

Bring Back Pet Sterilization Program
By DONNA E. PLOSS
The Hartford Courant
April 23, 2001

The first time I fed Shadow, a beautiful wild male tuxedo cat who has been living on the streets of Hartford for more than 10 years, he chowed down as if it were his last meal.

Shadow lives in an abandoned building littered with garbage and empty booze bottles. I can't image how a cat can survive in such filth. But Shadow is one of the few lucky cats. He gets seven square meals a week and has a place to keep him out of the rain and snow. He has people who care about him.

Calls come into local shelters and rescue groups all the time to come trap cats like Shadow. Come spring, the calls flood in as kittens are born to feral mothers. A litter of kittens, if not caught and socialized before they reach 6 weeks, will also become feral and unadoptable. A fertile female cat can produce up to three litters of kittens a year.

People do not realize, nor do they care, that trapping such cats and having them altered takes time and money that volunteers cannot afford.

The Animal Population Control Program was set up in 1995 to help with this problem. It provides reduced-cost vaccination and sterilization for animals adopted from municipal pounds. People pay a $45 deposit for two vaccinations and a sterilization. The adopter then receives a $20 refund.

If an adopted animal is later abandoned, at least it won't have litters of puppies or kittens that may themselves be abandoned.

But the state has temporarily suspended this worthwhile program because it has dipped below its funding level.

The Animal Population Control Program is paid for mostly through a surcharge on license fees for unaltered dogs. A portion of sales of "Caring for Pets" license plates goes to the program as well. According to statute, the commissioner of agriculture can suspend the program when money in its account dips below $400,000. For a while last year, the account had dropped to $300,000. The program is apparently so successful that it spends more in sterilizing and vaccinating animals than the state can collect in license and other fees.

A bill that received the unanimous approval of the legislature's Environment Committee would change the amount paid for an animal's adoption to a flat $35 fee, with no refund. In exchange, the new owner would receive a voucher for the pet's sterilization and rabies vaccination, good for 60 days after adoption. Since such procedures can cost $50 and up for a cat and $100 and up for a dog, that's a good deal. That bill would also lower the account-suspension threshold to $300,000.

Both these changes would allow the program to restart right away and would keep it running longer.

Without this program, irresponsible owners will not sterilize or vaccinate pets they adopt from a pound and later abandon. The pounds will end up with the kittens and puppies of these abandoned pets; many of them will have to be euthanized.

Until the state revives the spay/neuter program, the door has shut on a problem that will not go away, and I will continue feeding feral cats and their offspring that didn't ask to be abandoned.

Donna E. Ploss of Wethersfield is a Courant news clerk who volunteers with Helping Paws, a nonprofit animal rescue group based in Colchester.