Don't blame animal shelter

February 3, 2010

Re: Tough decisions for Huntsville Animal Shelter, Huntsville Forester letter to the editor, Jan. 6, 2010

Instead of pointing the finger at the Animal Shelter for Huntsville and blaming them for the overpopulation of cats and dogs by suggesting that they implement a euthanasia policy — let me bring this to your attention:

When you feed a stray and/or feral cat you are taking on responsibility for that cat. Therefore you are now the owner of that cat and should be responsible for spaying and/ or neutering it. If you don’t want the responsibility, don’t feed the strays.

Did you know that every unspayed female cat and her offspring might produce up to 420,000 kittens over a seven-year period? So, if you choose to have a cat whether it be a household pet or a barn cat then you need to make sure you are not adding to the problem. What the Muskoka area needs is a spay/neuter networking clinic — but I do not agree that this should fall on the Animal Shelter for Huntsville’s shoulders. Why is it that people always want to push responsibilities onto other organizations and people? You see the need, why don’t you start something? One person can make a difference in creating change for the better. An OSPCA in this area is not the answer. The Animal Shelter for Huntsville cares about the animals, they try their hardest to do what’s best for the animals, they see potential in the animals that they care for and this potential turns into successful adoptions. What Muskoka needs is for people to show more responsibility, not a shelter that has a revolving door of animals because they’re getting killed off.

Have some compassion, take ownership, do something to create solutions and stop pointing fingers when you’re part of the problem.

Michelle DeWilde

Emsdale