Cat Shelter Owner Frustrated with Cat Owners
A cat shelter owner, Susan McNair, living and working in Australia has become frustrated with cat owners because she’s been saving the lives of kittens for 20 years and has seen little change in the habits of a minority of cat owners who fail to spay and neuter their cats.
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Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats - McNair and Kitten. Photo: NICHOLAS BOYACK/STUFF.
It seems to me that she has been fighting an heroic battle largely on her own with zero funding from the local authority. Despite this, the annual cost of de-sexing the kittens which she cares for is AU$100,000. This is a large sum of money and she has to raise it on her own. In fact, the overall costs annually to run her shelter amount to AU$250,000. This presents a heavy responsibility.
In truth, she does not have to do this. She does it out of the kindness of her own heart and her love for cats and I will presume other animals.
I think she needs more help. She needs more appreciation. The name of her cat rescue is the Kitten Inn. She has a Facebook page with 23,000 followers. She says that if all her followers donated one dollar a week it would cover her annual expenses.
Obviously, therefore, followers do not donate or perhaps a small minority do. Maybe it should be obligatory to donate one dollar a week if you follow her Facebook page (no one would follow!). She needs help. People cannot place the burden of doing this arduous and responsible work on a single individual. If people care they should really do more than simply follow and provide emotional support. I’m sure, though, that some followers do a lot more than this but I’m just making the point that it’s about money at the end of the day.
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| FULL Maine Coon guide - lots of pages |
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This is where I think the local authority should step in. There’s no reason why they can’t make a small donation at the very least because she is serving the community. She is providing a valuable, voluntary service which improves the amenity of the area where she lives and improves the lives of many cats. Surely this is a good reason for the local authority to provide financial support.
McNair, rightly so, believes that the community has to accept a greater responsibility for their cats. Once again it is down to a minority of people who act irresponsibly with respect to cat ownership. Some cities and some local authorities have passed ordinances making spaying and neutering obligatory together with micro-chipping (Australia leads on this). It’s quite rare but it is happening. The problem is there is a very poor uptake and these ordinances are difficult to enforce. People are aware of the problems, the difficulty is in fixing them and changing attitudes.
In fact, the local authority could do more than simply providing funds. Why can’t they set up some sort of forum both online and on the ground where they can provide seminars and educational sessions with the objective of changing attitudes? The bottom line is it’s about education and regrettably it’s a fact that the less well educated cat owner is more likely to act irresponsibly regarding both the adoption and caring of cats.
Kitten Inn is holding a 30 hour adoption session on Saturday, March 3 at 8 AM at 247 Major Drive, Kelson. Please help this lady. She deserves it.
Once again it is down to a minority of people who act irresponsibly with respect to cat ownership(quote from article)
This has been my point for years. If you have a large segment of the population opting for s/n on a voluntary basis to stop pet overpopulation it takes only a few irresponsible ones to undo all the good.
More lies from cat-owners. Where is that vast majority of responsible cat-owners telling all the others that those who let cats roam free are inhumane and irresponsible?
The VAST majority of all cat-owners EVERYWHERE are clamouring to find ways to be even more irresponsible than ever before. That’s why we have this problem as a worldwide ecological and social disaster now. Don’t try to piss on my shoes and then tell me it’s raining.
YOU LIE! YOU ALL LIE! YOU NEVER STOP LYING!
Your comment is insulting which is unacceptable here. You username is arrogant and indicates a closed mind. I have always found that cat haters are arrogant and justify their viewpoints with arguments and facts which are conveniently distorted to suit.
I cannot find cat owners that are clamoring for the right to be irresponsible.
“This is where I think the local authority should step in. There’s no reason why they can’t make a small donation at the very least because she is serving the community.”
All other pet-owners on the planet take full responsibility and costs for their own kind of pet that they want to keep. It sounds like you are finally admitting that cat-owners are so incredibly irresponsible that they want everyone else to pay to clean up the messes that they make. I say cat-owners should instead be fined 10-times the amount that any other pet-owner would have to pay for an infraction of the required responsibilities that every other pet-owner abides by. Then maybe you’ll all learn.
If not then they should make the ownership and production of cats completely illegal in every country of the world if you can’t learn to be responsible pet owners. Even now, by your very own comments, you want everyone else to act responsibly for your own vermin cats where you will not. That alone is good enough reason to make all cats illegal in every country on the planet and take them from you and kill them all. Then you’ll learn. It’s headed that way, and you’re greatly helping to make it so.
Where’s your massive donation to help this woman? Or do you just expect everyone else to clean-up the messes that your own words and (in)actions create.
I have given over $5,000 USD to cat shelters over the years. That’s my financial contribution. Plus this website educates. You personally need educating on politeness and you also need a course on anger management. Any more comments from you must be polite and less aggressive else they’ll be deleted and you will be banned.
“That alone is good enough reason to make all cats illegal in every country on the planet and take them from you and kill them all. Then you’ll learn. It’s headed that way, and you’re greatly helping to make it so.”
I cannot read this without commenting. The above statement is horrifying, cruel and inhumane. Fed-Up-With-Fools is obviously a cat hater. This subhuman admonishes responsible pet ownership, then deviates by narrowing the criticism to target “vermin cats,” not pets in the broader sense. Why bother to post condemnatory comments which are seething with hatred and no help to anyone? More importantly, punishing precious kitty souls by taking their lives will not solve any problems.
The idea of everyone donating one dollar a week is an excellent idea. If more people chose to do this in support of the rescue groups they follow, then the animal rescuers could accomplish many more of their goals.
In addition, your website is a positive force for education, general knowldge and discussion, with a touch of humor thrown in, Michael. I look forward to reading your topics.
This man is a troll and he has been banned. I am sorry you had to ‘meet’ him in these comments. Trolls like to come to this site to try and stir up trouble.
Has anyone asked you for money. You choose to read a blog dedicated to the welfare and care of felines and then act aghast that someone is asking for donations to help their cause.
This person (an arrogant cat hater and hater of cat lovers it seems) has been banned. If his comments improve I might publish but it is unlikely.