by Michael
Oscar: 3 months old & blind. Adopted 2007 from Monmouth County SPCA (on the map). Photo: Valerie Craig (Val Ann)
Here are the animal shelters in NJ mapped. For people living outside the United States, "NJ" stands for New Jersey, a state on the eastern side of the country.
This is an area where there are more than the average number of animal rescue centers and organisations.
The map shows actual rescue facilities and offices were animal rescue operations are managed.
I hope it is accurate and therefore proves useful.
I am a fervent believer in adopting from the massive pool of rescued animals.
Most feral cats and animals are probably killed at shelters because they are considered unadoptable due to their wild nature.
This is a great shame. It is possible to tame and domesticate a truly feral cat but it takes time and persistence.
I feel sure that there are many stray cats that are not truly feral which could and should be adopted and which are not because they don't present well in the rescue or shelter environment.
When you think about it, it must be difficult to assess whether any cat has suitable personality traits in an environment that is inherently stressful - the rescue center.
How do the rescue people do this? It is probably that many cats are euthanized (the better term is killed) at rescue centers because of an assessment that is not accurate.
This may not be their fault but it highlights the difficulties in managing rescued cats and finding new homes for them.
Michael
