Hopes to give Bailey the cat a new home dashed at SPCA
Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, May 18, 2008
Last Saturday, I visited the Victoria SPCA, hoping to give a permanent home to a cat in need.

After spending an hour visiting with and learning about various cats, my partner and I fell in love with a female adult named Bailey.

We returned to the front desk and filled out the arduous SPCA adoption form.

When a staff member heard that we had one spayed female already at our home, she told us we could not adopt Bailey because two female cats would be too difficult to integrate.
Nowhere on the B.C. SPCA's website (www.bcspca.com) does it suggest that female cats are incompatible.

The website does, however, describe how to gradually introduce a new cat by respecting the natural inclinations of all cats to be territorial and to respond to scent.

None of this information was offered to us by the staffer, who simply refused to allow us to adopt a female cat and discouraged us from adopting a kitten in the alternative.

Our hearts had gone out to Bailey, but we were turned away for no good reason -- the staffer had made no attempt to assess us as potential adopters.

We left without giving a home to a shelter animal that day, and we suspect others have been similarly denied.

Julie Muir

Victoria