I got only six spay neuter spots in September, the month I come off my break.
There just are so few appointments to be had. If things do not improve, I will likely close HCC's spay neuter division, but keep open the cat food assistance, if possible. A nonprofit to assist with spay neuter that has no spay neuter options can't exist.
One by one the options in the mid valley have shut down. Greenhill down in Eugene once helped by fixing ferals for the public, then that stopped. WAG clinic recently shut down spay neuter surgeries in Eugene. Heartland quit helping rescues and myself with spay neuter. Safehaven quit their voucher program for fixing cats, then got donations to build a fancy surgery suite, said they'd do once a month cat fix clinics for owned cats, maybe did a handful, ended that, and now I'm not sure they use that fancy surgery suite at all. So they are no help at population control.
Reservations available at WHS, which turns into a division of Portland's Oregon Humane tomorrow, have dropped off and now, if September is any indication, to almost nothing available. I can't even get into the FCCO for three measly cat fixes until end of July. So what's the point? Probably none, unless something changes.
Oregon has gone backwards, not forward, in availability of affordable spay neuter. In a big way too.
I'll probably see if the transition of Willamette Humane into Oregon Humane (I call it Portland Humane), makes things even worse, out beyond September. Tomorrow WHS is no more. I resent the intrusion of Portland into the mid valley, but if they bring their big money and increase spay neuter, I'll keep my resentment clamped away deep inside. OHS is also famous for pushing through animal welfare laws that are never enforced. It will be interesting to see what they do in the valley now.
By November if nothing has improved its lights out for HCC's spay neuter mission. If I keep open the cat food assist for awhile, then if something gets better with spay neuter options, I can light up that part again, to keep options open just in case.
Yes, it is depressing. Exceedingly so. The only place with ready spay neuter access is Portland, with the FCCO. Is my bitterness over lack of services outside Portland area showing? Probably. But I'm glad I don't live there. I can't take the crowds and congestion and its even more expensive to live there. I hope OHS taking over WHS doesn't make things even worse in the valley.
It's a bad situation, especially as there are people who voluntarily do the hard work of getting the cats there, fast becoming a pointless effort.
ReplyDeleteIt is bad.
DeleteI am so sorry to read this. Depressing - and infuriating too. The need continues to exist, but the services are going.
ReplyDeleteYeah and I'm not sure why. Not a priority with the big shelters who have the big money to create a difference with high volume clinics.
DeleteThat's all very frustrating and I don't know what to say except apparently your priorities and not their priorities. I here there's a big problem with homelessness in your area. Are they concentrating on that instead?
ReplyDeleteThe homeless issues in Oregon have lots to do with drug use and what can any group do about that? Not much unless the person will agree to treatment that often doesn't help in the least and is very expensive. The other half of the homeless equation is the housing market here is red hot, with out of staters moving here by the score, which is driving up the cost of housing beyond the means of many many people.
DeleteWhy is everything so awful now? It's too bad there's no way to get the word out to the media that this is happening. They'll soon see an explosion in feral cats, and I'm sure people don't really want that. But you can only do what you can do. You do a lot for one person, and that's truly enough.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why everything's gone so downhill in the valley.
DeleteIt seems like a lot of things are not moving forward. I would guess back to the 1950's or even later.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
~hugs~
ReplyDelete