I responded with this letter, which was not published.

Re: your article of Thurs. Aug. 14th/08 "Kittens big draw at Tiger Lily farm."

I fail to see the attraction of a petting farm. Are these infant animals produced solely for the amusement of families on summer vacation?
Where are the adult animals, and the old animals? What is their lot in life?
The author says how attracted her children were to the kittens, until she saw the sign, "Free Kittens" and she said no to the children.

There is no such thing as a "free kitten" although there are an overabundance of kittens - unwanted, uncared for, unspayed, and unneutered kittens.

A kitten requires food, shelter, spaying or neutering, vet checks, vaccinations, flea treatment, and more often than people would like to think, they require expensive veterinary care.
A kitten is at least a 20 year daily responsibility. How many people are thinking of that when they see the "free kitten" signs?
In the same day's paper, there is an ad "FOSTER PARENTS FOR CATS/KITTENS".

A few days earlier, I had seen a young kitten and was told he was one of the barn kittens of a co-worker at the business I was visiting.

Clearly this family at least, does not bother to spay and neuter their barn cats. What are they thinking? That the cats are expendable? That so many kittens will be eaten by eagles, owls, racoons, or run over by farm equipment or poisoned by chemicals, that it is necessary to keep a constant supply of new kittens coming in?
More likely they weren't thinking further than the fact that kittens are cute.

People tell me that their cat is pregnant and they have homes aleady for the kittens. Well, for every kitten they allow to come into the world, they are displacing a cat that is already here - in a foster home, waiting - becoming not so cute, not so adoptable, often by the time they are just a few months old.

Please people - please have your animals spayed and neutered. Please stop the proliferation of feral cats; cats born in the wild who are too frightened of humans to ever be "domesticated." Many of them lead terrible lives, unless they are lucky enough to be trapped by a caring person, taken to the vet, SPAYED or NEUTERED, sheltered, and cared for by this compasionate person - at that person's expense. When you are caring for a colony of many cats, it becomes very expensive.

Back to the petting zoo for a moment. Do we need more baby rabbits - created intentionally so someone can pet them? What about all the feral rabbits I see running all around Coombs? Their ancestors were somebody's "pet" rabbits too.

Let's end this exploitation of animals, practice spay and neuter at all times, and take really good care of the animals who are already here.

Lyn MacDonald
Coombs, B.C.