Cat-astrophe at the animal shelter
Irresponsible owners and lack of pet-friendly housing have created a hazard on city streets where feline numbers are exploding
Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist
Thursday, September 01, 2005
It's raining cats in Victoria. The population explosion is threatening to drown the Victoria Humane Society and strain the Capital Regional District and SPCA shelters.
Owners who do not spay or neuter or treat cats as disposable pets -- either abandoning them to join Greater Victoria's ballooning feral population or giving them to a shelter once they tire of them -- are creating a cat crisis.
For Tracy Vandekerkhove, founder of the Victoria Humane Society, it has become a personal problem with kittens in the bathroom, pregnant cats in the bedrooms and a deficit of at least $2,000 a month.
Tracy and Doug Vandekerkhove personally put about $2,500 a month into animal care and rely on donations for the remaining costs.
But donations are declining just as costs are growing and the society, a registered charity, is $10,000 in debt in debt to local feed stores and vets.
"We have about 150 cats. We should have about 75 at this time of year," said Vandekerkhove, who also is coping with 14 llamas, "millions" of guinea pigs and hamsters, chinchillas, sugar gliders and reptiles.
"We got 15 cats dropped off in one day. We are getting people referred to us from other agencies because they are desperate," she said.
Renters in Victoria are finding it hard to get pet-friendly accommodation, Vandekerkhove said.
"People can't find anywhere to take their pets. It breaks my heart when you get 16-year-old cats coming in here," she said.
Vandekerkhove is pledging to look after the cats she has now -- all of which are spayed or neutered -- but says she will have to close the door to more cats unless she gets financial help.
Donations can be made at any branch of Coast Capital Savings or mailed to PO Box 33021, Victoria V9B 6K3. For information phone 744-1306.
Doug Wilde, Capital Regional District senior animal control officer, sighs in exasperation at the irresponsibility of cat owners. "We have just spent $20,000 expanding the cat room," he said.
The CRD has about 50 cats up for adoption and euthanizes surrendered feral cats.
The growing population of feral cats is dangerous to pets because of airborne diseases, and to people because of infections from scratches, Wilde said.
"They're little Tasmanian devils. They're extraordinarily fast and extraordinarily dangerous. They bring in diseases and decimate the wild bird population," he said.
Victoria SPCA has about 100 cats in its shelter and another 60 on the waiting list.
Manager Penny Stone, processing cats being handed over the counter, said they are regarded as disposable.
"These ones are from students who got them as kittens three years ago and now they don't want them any more," she said.
"People should not take a cat unless they are ready to make a 20-year commitment."
The importance of spaying and neutering cannot be over-emphasized, Stone said.