Animal Shelters

Nell, you have put this beautifully. It’s a lovely thought donating in honour of your beloved cat and so saving the life of another.

Take care.

I just wanted to drag this up instead of starting a new thread.

I am huge on this. For me it is mainly about cats – not because I don’t care about dogs, I do, but I just have a strong bond with cats and the thought of them needlessly being dumped or put down enrages me. I hate how people will see cats as whatever is convenient for them – they’re pets when they acts according to expectations, but as soon as things get difficult it’s “just an animal” or even “it can survive alone, it’s a wild animal”. You can’t have it both ways. You need to take responsibility for your pets.

My inlaws have a bit of an issue with desexing, and part of me understands where they are coming from – they LOVE animals and want them to be their natural selves, without us cutting and slicing to our convenience. The problem, to me, was that they refused to then take care of the offspring this resulted in. That isn’t fair. These kittens didn’t ask to be born and these cats have not been bred to know what’s best for them. Hundreds of years of domestication can throw off a lot of instincts. Cats aren’t reproducing to survive anymore and we need to protect them from themselves, in my opinion. If we didn’t have thousands and thousands of them in kill shelters, sure, let them do their natural thing, but I was always taught to take full responsibility for a pet and if I choose not to desex, also the offspring.

That is why I took in their cat’s three kittens in February, for whom nobody wanted to take responsibility. Nobody even bothered to take them to a shelter, it was ridiculous, they were wild and scared and tiny and their mom had since disappeared. I took them in because I’d rather cut off my arm than see these little creatures suffer because people think it’s natural for them to be little orphans in an urban jungle.

Last week one of them died and in his honour I will be donating a few hundred dollars to a no-kill shelter/hospital in the area. So that maybe his life will save another one. It enrages me when people will only take responsibility for animals when it is convenient.

I NEVER buy cats at a breeder or pet shop, EVER. I don’t blame people who do, but I personally can’t. I have seen the desperation of rescues and strays, I could never go back to thinking it’s okay not to help them whenever I can. I’ll take in the hardest, wildest, most damaged little soul that nobody else wants because we as a society have come to a point where it’s okay to cast a pet aside if it doesn’t live by human law. Oh, it’s not cuddly, why would I want that – oh, it scratches when you rub its belly, it’s a mean cat, let’s not get that one… I understand if you have kids, but not under any other circumstances.

Humans think they can do whatever they like to whatever they please, but not on my watch when it comes to cats. I had my parents in laws’ cats desexed by the way, after finally convincing them. Sorry, but I’d rather take something from this grown up, happy cat that he probably won’t even miss, than having the lives of dozens of kittens on my conscience. Maybe once it’s under control we won’t need to anymore, but until then I am not in any way enabling the system in place now, which is an overloaded system of suffering and death for kittens that didn’t ask for any of it.

Can you tell I’m mad :-p

I don’t think you’re mad at all, Nell! I think it is very admirable that you care so much for animals and their wellbeing. I also think it is extremely generous and thoughtful of you to make a donation in honour of one of your kittens. =)

My mum is a big animal lover so we have acquired a number of furry family members who were in terrible situations at no fault of their own. The latest cat which is quickly becoming our latest pet was left behind when some people moved from our street. He started by coming to our house for food every night, and now he is always in our front yard having a snooze or waiting for dinner time. =P We don’t mind, he’s a good cat and in any case he deserves to be looked after. We’d hate to see him wander the streets hungry and at the risk of getting hurt.

Yeah, so you are certainly not mad! It is terrible that there are so many irresponsible cat owners out there, but it is also comforting to know there are people like yourself who are there to look out for them. =)

Oh, what timing! I just got back from my sister’s place, she and her friends just rescued a tiny kitten that was dumped in a storm drain. People can be so awful. And those of you who love your cats, please do the responsible thing and get them desexed. Good on you Nell for giving the memory of your companion a new life!

As well as the great suggestions above, I wanted to mention another way you can build the profile of your local shelter, as well as raising money for them – fundraising! It can be a great way to have a lot of fun while doing some good – think about stuff like the large fun runs like the City – Bay in Adelaide. But maybe you could do a day of makeovers or something with the profits going to your local shelter. Anyway just wanted to say it’s an amazing way to have fun and show that people who support shelter are not just unwashed hippies. Once again, good on you Nell for bringing this up again xo

I just wanted to drag this up instead of starting a new thread.

I am huge on this. For me it is mainly about cats – not because I don’t care about dogs, I do, but I just have a strong bond with cats and the thought of them needlessly being dumped or put down enrages me. I hate how people will see cats as whatever is convenient for them – they’re pets when they acts according to expectations, but as soon as things get difficult it’s “just an animal” or even “it can survive alone, it’s a wild animal”. You can’t have it both ways. You need to take responsibility for your pets.

My inlaws have a bit of an issue with desexing, and part of me understands where they are coming from – they LOVE animals and want them to be their natural selves, without us cutting and slicing to our convenience. The problem, to me, was that they refused to then take care of the offspring this resulted in. That isn’t fair. These kittens didn’t ask to be born and these cats have not been bred to know what’s best for them. Hundreds of years of domestication can throw off a lot of instincts. Cats aren’t reproducing to survive anymore and we need to protect them from themselves, in my opinion. If we didn’t have thousands and thousands of them in kill shelters, sure, let them do their natural thing, but I was always taught to take full responsibility for a pet and if I choose not to desex, also the offspring.

That is why I took in their cat’s three kittens in February, for whom nobody wanted to take responsibility. Nobody even bothered to take them to a shelter, it was ridiculous, they were wild and scared and tiny and their mom had since disappeared. I took them in because I’d rather cut off my arm than see these little creatures suffer because people think it’s natural for them to be little orphans in an urban jungle.

Last week one of them died and in his honour I will be donating a few hundred dollars to a no-kill shelter/hospital in the area. So that maybe his life will save another one. It enrages me when people will only take responsibility for animals when it is convenient.

I NEVER buy cats at a breeder or pet shop, EVER. I don’t blame people who do, but I personally can’t. I have seen the desperation of rescues and strays, I could never go back to thinking it’s okay not to help them whenever I can. I’ll take in the hardest, wildest, most damaged little soul that nobody else wants because we as a society have come to a point where it’s okay to cast a pet aside if it doesn’t live by human law. Oh, it’s not cuddly, why would I want that – oh, it scratches when you rub its belly, it’s a mean cat, let’s not get that one… I understand if you have kids, but not under any other circumstances.

Humans think they can do whatever they like to whatever they please, but not on my watch when it comes to cats. I had my parents in laws’ cats desexed by the way, after finally convincing them. Sorry, but I’d rather take something from this grown up, happy cat that he probably won’t even miss, than having the lives of dozens of kittens on my conscience. Maybe once it’s under control we won’t need to anymore, but until then I am not in any way enabling the system in place now, which is an overloaded system of suffering and death for kittens that didn’t ask for any of it.

Can you tell I’m mad :-p

Great thread topic Receccalife! You obviously have a great passion for animal welfare, and I’m sure you’ve inspired many (including myself) to help out the very needy animal shelters that are all around Australia.

I’ve always been a huge advocate of adopting pets, rather than buying them from breeders or even worse, pet shops. Years ago I saw a series of videos on youtube documenting the puppy farm industry in this country and it made me sick. I still can’t get the disturbing images I saw out of my mind to this day. It’s these horrific places and situations that most pet shops buy animals from to sell to the general public.

Always adopt pets from registered shelters and pounds and get a best friend for life, and that warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you’ve literally saved a life!

I’m a huge advocate of animal shelters too and I HATE pet shops. My mum, being just as much a softy had to rescue 2 kittens FROM a pet shop. Ankia was that dehydrated she couldn’t even move and she wasn’t fed so she resorted to eating kitty litter, it was horrible, first few nights I literally had to hand feed her the good stuff and not have her by instict go to the kitty litter.

Another kitten fromt he same pet shop, same breeder, she was classified as 6 weeks old when she was really 3 MONTHS old and was starved to ‘stay cute’ and she also had a broken tail tip which those who worked at the pet store didn’t even notice UNTIL mum pointed it out.

It’s horrifying the conditioins animals are in. Our Great Dane came to use with bleeding ears and very undernurished. Every time he shook his head blood would splatter the walls and his previous owner didn’t even bother to get treatment and at one stage said ‘Oh. Really? I didn’t notice?’ Yes well that’s probably because prior to us havng him he lived in a run for his whole life maybe lady?

Ugh. I just hate people. The only one who came to us perfectly spoilt was my husky Ziva because she was the runt of the litter.

Be calm now……..

Great thread topic Receccalife! You obviously have a great passion for animal welfare, and I’m sure you’ve inspired many (including myself) to help out the very needy animal shelters that are all around Australia.

I’ve always been a huge advocate of adopting pets, rather than buying them from breeders or even worse, pet shops. Years ago I saw a series of videos on youtube documenting the puppy farm industry in this country and it made me sick. I still can’t get the disturbing images I saw out of my mind to this day. It’s these horrific places and situations that most pet shops buy animals from to sell to the general public.

Always adopt pets from registered shelters and pounds and get a best friend for life, and that warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you’ve literally saved a life!

I’d really like to help out. I have very little time but I might be able to donate some food or maybe blankets? Do they need those?

Yes. Animal shelters need blankets, food, even hessian
sacks if you have some lying around, they also use them for bedding purposes.

As you are obviously an animal lover, i presume you would have been following the American story about PATRICK THE PITBULL. An absolute tradegdy!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can people do this to innocent pets. If you are very sensitive it may be better that you don’t look up the article as it is really shocking. It does have a good ending as PATRICK has now been saved. Congratulations to you and others that really care!!!!

I saw those pictures of him, I couldn’t even believe he could be alive when they found him like. So lucky they got him when they did!

I hated being at the rspca when we got our cat and seeing all the last chance animals that only had a few days to go if they didn’t get adopted.

My mum makes jackets and bedding with her sewing machine for them, cause we noticed how most were just on concrete slabs and with the weather getting so cold its just horrible. It doesn’t feel like much when you go there but atleast it would be a bit of comfort for them.

Animal Shelters are vital for the survival of innocent animals that have either been lost or that have been mistreated.

Unfortunately, most animal shelters don’t receive any govenment funding and rely only on donations of time, food and money.

I encourage everyone to think about what you can do for your local animal shelter, there are many ways to help out.

A lot of people feel that they can’t help out because they can’t afford to donate a lot of money but there are other ways you can help without spending anything.

Volunteering your time to an animal shelter is the easiest cost-free way of doing an amazing thing for some amazing animals. Wether you can help clean out some animal sleeping cages or even just taking a dog for a walk, every little thing counts.

Another easy way of donating is to donate food. Shelters will always accept donations of dog and cat food. Even if you can provide food for one animal for one day, that’s one day of shelter funding that can go to other things such as vet bills and desexing.

At a supermarket you can buy large tins of dog food for as little as 99c, that’s dinner for two dogs.

Do you have toys that your pets don’t play with anymore? Shelters would love to have them!

I encourage all of you to contact your local shelters and ask how you can help out, it’s an amazing feeling knowing that you’re helping to provide a good life for an innocent animal 🙂

As you are obviously an animal lover, i presume you would have been following the American story about PATRICK THE PITBULL. An absolute tradegdy!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can people do this to innocent pets. If you are very sensitive it may be better that you don’t look up the article as it is really shocking. It does have a good ending as PATRICK has now been saved. Congratulations to you and others that really care!!!!