November Cat Stats--49 Fixed Using Poppa Inc. Funds

During the month of November, 2007, I took in 49 cats to be fixed, 32 of them females, using a combination of Poppa Inc. funds and caregiver donations. The cost to Poppa Inc. was $1644.

37 of the cats fixed were Linn County cats while 12 hailed from Benton County.

Ten of the Benton County cats fixed came from a homeless camp in Corvallis. The other two were Hull Oaks Mill cats.

Of the Linn County cats, most came from Albany.

Seven came from a stables and surrounding area. All these had been dumped.

Another seven came from a rural Linn County residence and these cats were the offspring of cats dumped along that road.

Five of the cats fixed were living around an abandoned house in Albany.

Of the other cats, over half were owned by Albany residents who felt they could not pay to have them fixed themselves, or wouldn't, and had neighbors or landlords complaining (intervened on behalf of the cats, in these cases, knowing they would be the ones to pay the ultimate price).

When I look at the statistics, I see how the overpopulation problem occurs. People get pets, like free kittens, on a whim, don't get them fixed, move, and abandon them, leaving the cats to fend for themselves, or, hopefully, encounter a kind person who will feed them and get them fixed.

Most unfixed cats I encounter are after the fact---after they have been abandoned or dumped somewhere unfixed. My wish is to stop the problem at its source. It's source is people who do not fix their pets and who adopt out kittens unfixed.

Last spring, I was called by a Corvallis woman for whom I'd once gotten seven cats fixed. She was being evicted and wanted me to take or hold all her cats, including two more unfixed pregnant cats, until she could find another place. I went over, and dug the two pregnant cats out of knee deep garbage filling her apartment. Although this woman and her two teenage daughters had several more days to exit the unit, they did nothing to clean the place, and would just sit on the porch, instead of getting their things out. A neighbor had agreed to feed the remaining cats, but they did not even take advantage of that offer, but finally vacated the premises. I took the two pregnant cats and found them homes after they were fixed and fixed immediately. The fate of the others, who at least were fixed, is unknown.

I then got another phone call from the same woman a few months later. She had moved to another apartment complex and had acquired two more kittens, whom she would not let me fix, stating they were too young. She said she would let me fix them later, but instead I got a call from her a couple weeks ago, that she had again been evicted and wanted me to "hold" the kittens for her. I was full up and could not help her. I don't know what happened to the kittens. When she gets another place, she will get more cats who will not be fixed, and repeat.

This behavior is endemic in certain populations in Corvallis and Albany, more so in Linn County, where large segments of the population, due to poverty, addictions, and mental health issues, are extremely mobile. They get animals on a whim when they cannot even take care of themselves, and abandon them over and over again, when they move.

It is sad, for the people involved, but especially for the animals and children involved.