british columbia news
Sunday, Jan 15, 2006

Cat rescuers need resources to shelter homeless felines

(Black Press) - There are dozens of people and organizations in the Lower Mainland struggling to help the feline population.

"Our feeling on this is that anyone willing to help homeless cats - we're 100 per cent behind that," says Lorie Chortyk, community relations manager of the BC SPCA.

But she says it's important that cat rescuers - both groups and individuals - have the resources to care for the numbers of cats in their custody.

"It's our job to make sure they're able to take care of them."

Currently, the BC SPCA houses for 2,184 cats in its 36 shelters. It's eight Lower Mainland shelters have 842 cats. Among those, 99 are at the Surrey shelter.

But for each one up for adoption, there are several homeless cats battling the elements.

"It's a big issue," says Chortyk.

"So many people will dump cats in the wild. They can't take care of themselves," she says, adding that the average life span of a homeless cat is three years.

Disease, starvation, injuries, coyotes and cars are among the causes of their horrible suffering and deaths.

It's an invisible problem too, as feral cats tend to hide away from humans.

Currently, the SPCA adheres to an unofficial no-kill policy, says Chortyk.

But "it's not fair to mislead the public," she adds, saying that euthanasia is sometimes necessary to ease suffering from disease or to kill an animal that is too aggressive.

Only the Prince George shelter must occasionally euthanize "for space."

With the estimate of homeless cats in the thousands in the Lower Mainland, there is an unending need for volunteers and donations at both the private rescue groups and the SPCA.

Chortyk adds: "It's a challenge for us just as it's a challenge for any rescue group."