By Shannon Moneo
Sooke News Mirror

Saving abandoned cats isn't going to become a habit for Lisa Yakimovich, but when she saw the homeless domesticated mother and her four kittens, the mother of two young sons couldn't help herself.
"You feel terrible when you see them," the Sooke resident said.
She took home two of the four kitties, leaving the remaining two with mom.
In late May, a friend called Yakimovich and asked the animal-lover if she needed anymore animals. Yakimovich's spotless house is home to two dogs and two cats.
The friend said someone had dumped a pregnant cat in the wooded area between A & W restaurant and Evergreen Plaza, a strip of land which in addition to hosting drinking parties, has become a bit of a feline dumping hotspot.
"I can't understand why people would do that," Yakimovich said of those who abandon pets. Options like the SPCA or Capital Regional District (CRD) animal control exist.
The CRD's chief bylaw officer Don Brown had not heard about cats being purposely left in that particular Sooke spot. He was more familiar with the wild cats living by dumpsters at the rear of Evergreen Plaza.
Still, this is the time of year when pregnant cats get dumped because owners don't want to be faced with five pets instead of one or else they're moving and don't want to take the family pet.
"It's totally irresponsible and causes a community problem," Brown said. An abandoned tame cat has wild kittens, who are often condemned to a cruel, sick life.
An important element is cat birth control. The SPCA's mandate is animal welfare while Brown's unit deals more with animal control. But when it comes to keeping the birth rate down, both Yakimovich and Brown spoke highly of the Greater Victoria Animals' Crusaders, which has operated for 30 years as a spaying and neutering society.
Until the SPCA, which has been having internal problems, gets its act together, it would be wiser for people to make donations to the Crusaders, Brown said. The volunteer-run Crusaders are currently on a fundraising/member campaign.
Last year, the organization spayed and neutered over 1,000 animals, 80 per cent of them cats, with the remainder being canines. Most of the pet-owners are low-income people, said Crusaders spokesperson Carol Sonnex.
The 12-14 veterinarians who work with the Crusaders, including Sooke vet Dr. Joe Schaffer, prefer to work on domestic animals, but if necessary, they will spay and neuter stray or wild cats, Sonnex said. Feral cats get fixed and are then re-released.
The Crusaders pay approximately $45 to neuter a male cat and $80 to spay a female.
Currently, new Crusaders are needed to provide feline foster homes. The volunteers would take in a pregnant cat, let her give birth, followed by spaying and neutering and then the cats would be removed.
"They don't have to keep them," Sonnex said.
The idea is to get the cat in a controlled environment so that the offspring and mother can be fixed to prevent future unwanted births.
"We don't want cats giving birth under a tree," Sonnex said.
The Crusaders paid to neuter the two kittens Yakimovich adopted. One of the healthy, but nervous little critters has found a home but Yakimovich still needs to find one more spot for the skittish little, eight-week-old, grey male, who hasn't yet been christened.
Brown cautions would-be pet owners to think it through before deciding to add a Rover or Fluffy to the fold. Pets can severely restrict lifestyles and can cost a lot to maintain.
"Sometimes they're more work than children," he said.
To help the Greater Victoria Animals' Crusaders call 474-5581 or log onto www.island.net/~gvac

http://edit.bcnewsgroup.com/uploads/sooke/.DIR288/COLOURstray_cat_23.jpg

Story:
" Family comes to aid of dumped cats"
Published in Sooke News Mirror on Jun 09, 2004
Story URL: http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?cat=23&paper=32&id=249035