So about those cats and dogs...

The days of a box of free kittens outside the feed store, courtesy of a farmer, are long long gone.  The days of rubber boot castrations are long gone too.  Long gone are the days of rudely ending the lives of unwanted animals and being able to think it is okay.  That disposing of offspring was a form of animal control.

Sadly, 'out of sight, out of mind' still happens, and sadly people assume that there is some sort of protective shield around a dog or cat that is dumped in the country. "They'll learn to fend for themselves." or "Someone will find them, and take care of them."

Firstly, most dogs do not learn to fend for themselves, and they eventually have one of a number of things happen to them: they get shot/poisoned/run over, they get picked up by animal control with a 72 hour policy and put down or they starve death or are attacked and killed by bigger, wilder predators.  Very few dogs are lucky enough to be an Emma who we found and took care of for her last years. She was abandoned in the country - blind and elderly.  What chance did she have? But for the grace of God, none.

Secondly, cats fare somewhat better on the survival scale, as evidenced by the number of semi wild and feral cats in rural areas.  They live in barns, yards, old equipment, empty houses and generally eat their way around the countryside. They eat mice (a good thing) and other rodents, they decimate bird populations (not a good thing), they attack each other, breed rapidly and tend to have short, violent lives unless they are in a protected farm yard.  Abandoned cats in winter, especially, will find themselves starving and frostbitten. Roving tom cats are vicious fighters, nasty neighbors and really bad actors.  The mother of our three barn cats came in such rough condition we didn't even know if she would make it.  She did though, and her three babies are living here with us.  She moved in with a neighbor and is living the life of spayed luxury.

City dogs and cats face many more dangers, and those in semi-urban areas face even greater ones as they are combined rural and urban.  Traffic, other animals, humans who exploit them to fighting and torture and other horrors.

Caring people do their best to rescue and rehome these animals, all are spayed and neutered, vetted and ready for their forever home.  Many caring farmers and acreage owners are working hard to spay and neuter their cats to keep the populations down.

Responsible pet owners need to understand that spaying and neutering gives their animals longer lives, less stress from hormones, fewer chances of being attacked based solely on their ability or threat as 'breeding' animals.  Responsible pet owners need to remember that those animals they have taken into their homes and lives are depending on them for everything, from their first day to their last.  We give them their shots, we deworm them, we find them food in fun shapes, we provide them with toys, treats and nice beds or houses.  We give them yards and homes, love and care.  We give them a chance to thrive and live.

Those who choose to have animals and choose not to care for them are condemning them to lives filled with danger, fear, pain, stress, starvation and often times early deaths in painful lingering forms.  Those who choose this way are not always the 'bad guys' you would think - it could be the elderly lady down the road who loves cats but can't have them in her home so she feeds and lets them breed.  It could be the parent who bought the 'movie puppy' and couldn't learn how to train it, and decides to 'dump it'.  It could be the backyard breeder determining that rather than dispose of unwanted pups they'll just 'lose' them somewhere else.  It could be the farmer who lets the animals breed and then dumps the offspring in town, at a shelter or lets 'nature take its course'.

A few people purposefully and willfully cause animals harm, this isn't really about them.  You cannot unrotten an apple.  This is for those people who are generally kind hearted but thoughtless.  The ones that really don't see the harm in a few dozen unwanted cats or puppy roaming about.  The ones that don't understand that there is no good reason for putting down healthy, adoptable animals.  The ones that just don't get that their poor choices with animals leads to healthy, adoptable animals being put down in pounds and shelters around the world because no one thought to care for them and consider their future.

This message is for them...if you choose to have animals, choose to care for them. Spay, neuter, vetting, chipping or tagging, proper yards and homes, feed and care from their first day with you until their last.  Their last day with you should be the one before they go to a new home that you know they will be cared for at, in to a reputable rescue or are properly euthanized because they are too ill or injured or so elderly they have no more quality of life.

The funny thing about choices is that when it comes to life or death we are the ones that make them for our animals.  Choose good things for them, choose the right things for them.  If you are not willing or able to be their loving caregiver, please find them a new home, surrender them to a rescue or as a friend or neighbor whom you know is an excellent animal person.  You have the choice, make the right one for your animals!  Set an example of responsible and caring pet ownership.