Is neutering cruel and against nature?

Interesting comment on the Celia Hammond Trust Facebook page, interesting that she has even had to say this at all. Comments wholly justified, and when you've worked for a cat charity and seen the effects of unwanted kittens first-hand, and the suffering and death of many a litter, you can't help but agree.

A frequent concern expressed to us is "but isn't neutering interfering with nature?"
And our response....
By domesticating cats and dogs, humans have already interfered. By breeding cats and dogs and caring for them, we have helped ensure their breeding success and longer life.
Cats are prolific breeders: If a female cat was to mate every time she came into season, and all her kittens were to survive and breed, then there could be up to 21,000 extra cats in just 7 years!
With the cat population able to increase at such a fast rate there could never be enough homes to go around.
The dog and cat population can either be humanely controlled by neutering, left to nature or the surplus can be killed or 'culled'.
Nature is cruel and since there are no natural predators of cats and dogs in the U.K the population would be controlled by starvation and disease. The most likely scenario however would be a situation seen by many holidaymakers in some countries - starving colonies of sick animals which are killed by the authorities to contain numbers - a situation we think most people in this country would find intolerable.
Surplus cats and kittens are already euthanased in the U.K because the cat population continues to grow and there are not enough homes.
Stray cats and kittens already struggle to survive on our streets in growing numbers as animal charities struggle to help them all. Cats and kittens become sick whilst living stray and and many do die.

https://www.facebook.com/celiahammondanimaltrust/posts/948189308525262

Another trip to Yorkshire Cat Rescue...

Through a series of events, this is Bella. We took her two fellow cats to YCR the other week and everyone thought Bella was staying with her owner. It would have been fine except for her owner's husband showing back up and causing a big scene. Turns out he brought one of the other family cats with him and when things got ugly and the police were called, they had to move the owner and her 'cat'. Well, they got the wrong cat and poor Bella was left in the flat on her own for a week, trapped behind some furniture, before a kindly neighbough realised and went in to look for her. She was rushed to the vets and luckily has suffered no permanent damage, despite being without food and water for nearly a week.

Luckily YCR have agreed to take her in and reunite her with her kittens (not really kittens, now they're fully grown). I collected her from the vets today and she is a sweet thing. No fuss, just the odd 'where am I?' meow in the carrier on the way there. She looks abit fierce in the one of the below pics, but that's just her mid-meow. For what she's been thru she is in remarkable spirits and still doesn't appear to fear strangers. She was happy for me to stroke and talk to her thru the carrier without shying away. Bless her.

Her owner is happy she is safe and well, and God bless YCR for coming to the Rescue, once again. Anyone that thinks that domestic violence doesn't affect pets is naive. Pets can suffer just as much as humans, sometime more so when they become the focus of someone's anger/rage/jealousy. Pets aren't always lucky enough to survive the situation and if they are can be separated from their owners, for one reason or another, either temporarily or as in Bella's case, permanently. I have had previous experience of having to rescue animals from a bad environment, sometimes at very short notice. Right or wrong, humans understand what is happening. Animals do not.

Transport job

Got a job yesterday to help take Rosie the cat across to Yorkshire Cat rescue near Howarth as soon as we could in the next few days. Her owner is moving into sheltered acommodation and has sadly had to re-home her other cats. YCT have taken the other cats and whilst some are very timid due to their previous environment, YCR are working with them to bring them round and make them adoptable. Rosie's sister, Gracie, went across yesterday but Rosie couldn't be picked up and put in a carrier. YCR supplied a trap and I lisased with Kath's friend on how to set up he trap this morning so the could get the little girl. We starved Rosie over night and sure enough, 10 minutes after the trap being set the little cat was in, trapped and safe. As Rosie was a house cat this made things alot easier and I knew it should be quite a quick job as we near the cat would be nearby, hungry, and likely to feel safe in her own space.

The drive across from Leeds took around 30 minutes and Rosie was put in the same pen as her sister, Gracie, so the two can feel a little more secure in their new, and what must be frightening and strange, environment. They are in a safe environment, will be well looked after,a nd hopefully sometime down the road will find a new forever home together.

Remember Me Thursday

Hope lots of you are visiting the REMEMBER ME THURSDAY site and lighting a candle for a friend or loved one... animal wise. It's just shy of 9.30 GMT and nearly 2,800 people have far remembered a cherished friend or just want to recognize the day. I posted a foto of Nora, seemed fitting.

Readers of my blog are few and far between, but even if you are reading this late, checkout the site here.

Trapping begins....

Well we got off to a slow start... 1 cat. The little black guy below to be exact. Got a bit worried when for the next 30 minutes no-one went in a trap. I brought some dried food but the cats were too impressed and even ave the impression they were not that hungry. As luck would have it and old lady push a cart turned up and out popped the cats [this is not the woman we had thought would turn up as she got taken into hospital today]. She dropped down a bunch of spaghetti and meat balls the cats wolfed it down! Seems I have been using the wrong bait. Had a bit of a mis-understanding with the woman when she kept trying to put a whole load of food at the mouth of the traps and I tried to explain it should only be a little and at the back.... She then walked down the road and all the damn cats followed her like the pied piper! Put a crimp in the old trapping plans. It was slow going until she came back and now dropped a slew of sardines and other fish bits..... out come the cats again. Anyway, cut a long story short I got 7 cats, with 2 more escaping as I tried to transfer them from the traps to the carriers - these have SIDE OPENING DOORS on the front... check the picture. I had to completed remove the door and then once wedged the trap against the absk opening., use the trap sliding door once the cat was in the carrier. Then I had to re-insert the door onto it's hinges BETWEEN THE FRONT THE CARRIER AND THE CLOSED TRAP! I didn't realize how easy I had it back home. Anyway 2 particularly big and feisty buggers squeezed between the carrier front and the trap as I was trying to put the door in place. I left the final 2 big cats in the traps rather than transfer and one of them was BIG BUGGER! If you look at tghe photo's you can see how run down the area is, without the support of people like the old lady these guys would starve... It's around 9.30pm and the cats have been dropped at an empty house, still in carriers/traps, and we went back at 9 to collect them and take them to the vets. All starts again tomorrow and will be taking some tuna and sardines with me :+}

Percy Thrower eat your heart out!

Well, Sunday today, and gardening duties call. The sanctuary has a small garden once you come down the steps from the street, in the form of planters and tubs going down either side of the wall. The boss said "... you do garden today, ci?" Hey, I do as I'm told. With us just coming through spring the plants are just coming back to life, but there was still some bugs and stuff to spray, not to mention dead plants to remove and some new ones needed bedding out. I have it on good authority that the garden looks lovely when in full bloom and I can beleive it. The cats love to wrap themselves around the planter tubs and just laze in the sun. It's a cool thing to see a big old cat squeezed into a tub 2 sizes too small for him to fit.

I also had an audience whilst working as the cats lovely come and see what you're up to. They getting used to me being around now each day so don't seem to skitish. They also know I'm a good source of stroking and occasionally food.

I've learnt today it is an honour for volunteers to go into the archelogical area. Apparently if tourist wish to come into the area it has to be arranged through the goverment they charge people around a THOUSAND EUROS a time. And I get to wander round and pick up the litter and crap for nothing! You wouldn't believe the stuff people throw over from the street into the area. I've been told they've come across furniture, whole sets of clothes (often new), and more. Today I found a boot (just one) a freshly discarded nappy (yes, it was full... nice!) and a half-a-rubbish-sack of free newspapers which had blown down from the street. The biggest hazard for the cats we need to be on the look-out for are broken bottles and plastic bags.

Didn't get to spend any time with the cats today until 5pm, due to doing the plants and filling the feeding stations. There's a funny tail (yes, I know!) there. To get to one of the underground feeding areas you have to go through the food storage area and I was told not to let any of the cats into the storage room ("..they pee" I was told). So what happens? Yes, one of the cats sneaks through my legs into the storage area. With both doors shut, the cat can't get out on his own, so I need to get him out. I debated asking another volunteer for help (it can't have been the first it had happened?) but figured, how hard could it be to scoot a cat from a small storage room maybe 20 feet square? Well, the bugger was crafty and if I wanted him to go left, he went right, and as I chased him down one aisle he went up the other. I got close, he ran. 30 minutes later I was on the verge of giving up and all the cooing and sweet nothings in the world hadn't got him to come to me. Then just as I am about to give up, he sits down, licks a paw and lets me pick him up! Turns out he one of the regular guys from indoors. He'd been playing me all along.

Didn't see Tomistocle today, think he was hiding. I got a great reaction out of Baloo who has only been in the sanctuary less than a week and had an operation , not sure for what. Anyway he is in one of the cages and has hardly moved all week out of his box. I was told it helps to get him to eat if you stroke him. Well, he's a scraggy looking small ginger fellow and not one of the most popular cats when it comes to visitors... they usually go for the cute and/or amputees. But today, after several minutes stroke and coaxing he purred and started to show me his stomach and pawed at me for more. Ten more minutes of petting and guys gets up and eats nearly a half a bowl of grub! The most I've seen him do all week. I also made a point of stopping my a little black-and-white guy who has had one of his ears removed as it has cancer. Again, not a big hit with the tourists so I make a special effort with him... it's okay until he keeps rubbing his stumpy ear on you hand... oooooooh!

Anway, I've got a ton of photo's to post of the blog but they will have to wait until I get home, so do drop back, even after I'm home, as I'll post them up over the course of a week and try and put some commentary with them.