All Natural Cat

There was an article in the newspaper yesterday about one of the animal shelters, and they said that last year they had to euthanize over 600 animals, mostly cats. The thing is, this isn’t that big of a city, and yet we managed to produce over 600 animals that had to die because there were no homes for them. And that’s not even the only shelter in town. According to the Humane Society of the United States, between three and four million cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters across the US every year. And those are the lucky ones, at least they get a relatively quick and humane death. Thousands more are run over by cars, or starve to death, or are poisoned (accidentally or maliciously), or are killed by predators or cruel people.

There are millions of good reasons to spay or neuter your pets, and this is one of them: there’s simply too many cats and dogs, and there’s no reason to make more. If your cat has a litter of five kittens, even if you manage to find homes for all of them (a big if, there), that means that five shelter cats go unadopted and get euthanized. Fixed kitties are happier and healthier and are much more well-behaved pets. If you want your kids to experience the miracle of birth, take them to a farm, or the zoo, or try raising monarch of swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Better yet, teach them a respect and reverence for life, and show them that animals should be treated kindly and are not to be created and discarded at whim.

No question about it, kittens are incredibly cute and can be a joy to add to a household. But streets and shelters are overflowing with kittens that nobody wants, who were only born because some cat owner couldn’t be bothered to get their cat fixed, and now they are doomed to death. (Yes, even kittens get euthanized, if they don’t get adopted in time—their cuteness does not protect them.) Be a responsible pet owner and have your cat or dog spayed or neutered (many shelters or veterinarians offer free or low-cost spay/neuter for pets of low income households), and if you want to add a new kitty to your family, stop by your local shelter. If you’re not in the market for a cat, consider donating a few bucks to the shelter instead. They’ve got a lot of kittens to feed.

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