Dear Editor:
Charlotte Berry, a grade 8 student in Fergus would like to see an animal shelter in her town (Give them shelter, Feb. 7).
I will go a step further and point out that there are only about a dozen in all of Wellington County, compared to over 420 in all of Ontario. And that 420 figure includes a lot of SPCA branches.
I have a master list of most of the SPCA offices, shelters and rescue agencies in Ontario – the list of the 420 – and there is nothing showing for Morriston, Puslinch, Aberfoyle, Elora, Drayton, Mount Forest, Clifford, Palmerston or Harriston, where I work.
Most shelters, which might also be called rescue agencies, are run by volunteers who care a great deal about animal welfare. For reasons of space in their homes, garages or barns, they may specialize in cats and dogs only, or cats, dogs and horses, or cats and rabbits only. They depend on donations to continue the work that they do.
My wife and I live in Listowel and help to care for a group of feral cats who live in the woods behind the houses on our street. We’ve built insulated shelters, provide daily and we get cash donations and food from private individuals who feel as we do, and also from sources like the donation box on the counter at the Listowel Pet Valu store. That store also gives us donations of food as well.
But we are not a rescue agency. We are not what Charlotte would call an animal shelter. We do not show on the master list. Before we had managed to trap all of “our cats” to get them neutered or spayed, there were many kittens to try and provide homes for. After you run out of friends and relatives who want a new kitten, you have to rely on rescue agencies to take them. Our resources for continuing to pay for vet bills were limited, even though we were getting a much reduced rate from a clinic in Kitchener for the spaying and neutering. So, we took some of the kittens to a rescue agency north of London.
If there are no volunteers to do that kind of work, then there are no places to take unwanted animals. It’s more volunteers we need to help the strays, the lost animals, and especially the ones that have been freed from an abusive home or kennel. In the list of 420, there are three in Kitchener-Waterloo but 17 in London. It all depends on the supply of volunteers. A couple of dozen of the agencies on the list show as just “Ontario” without a town or city address and most of those are specific to certain breeds like “Bouvier Rescue” and the “Golden Retriever Adoption Service”.
Although some people wouldn’t even take an unwanted animal to a rescue service if it was across the street, I agree with Charlotte. She said that generally speaking, “if an animal shelter was closer, then they would be much more willing to take the time to bring stray animals to a shelter.”
Charlotte interviewed a local farmer who said that no one seems to bother and I’ll tell you why that is. There are kind hearted people out there who might want to do the kind of work that Charlotte wants to see, but they need donations to help them get started and that’s a huge hindrance these days.
John McVicar,
Listowel