It's Up To Us


Atwater Vitki
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Blades- I know so well what you speak of. When I worked for the county we frequently found boxes full of kittens and puppies in the parks or up at the water reservoir....one of my own kittens came from a box of five deceased and one barely hanging on. Every time I see an orange crate box at the grocery store I think of little "Namu" that grew to be such a cool companion and the cruelty of people that think abandoning animals solves any kind of problem.

There are times when I think what a heartless society we've become when it seems like no one is willing to do jack squat about small problems before these things grow into huge problems. Our schools have deteriorated into diploma mills, pet sanctuaries have become first choice for the masses, businesses of all kinds have become heartless corporations and the political process has been so compromised voters feel useless. On one hand it's very clear how we've created two generations of people that begin every sentence with "Feel this..." and end it with "...ya know what I'm sayin', man?"*

I've lived a fairly adventurous life always taking care of me and mine while following my dreams...and a few nightmares...and until our accident had far greater plans for this chapter of life than what panned out. But, as anyone will tell ya, "That's Life!" However the loving care of pets has been a priority since I was old enough to know that "Bear" was my very first dog and how angry I was at my parents for leaving him with the people that bought our farm when I was 12 and we moved to 'clean city life'. Even as expensive spaying and neutering has become, isn't it far less expensive to deal with 1 or 2 than a litter of many?

Not just our small group of pet loving folks that is trying to get things done locally, but good people all over the world are trying to get that message out of "Spay, Neuter, Educate!" It blows my mind to think of some of the people around here that have kept four cell phone stores in business in a town of 25,000, seven if you count the 1 satellite TV and 2 gaming station stores that also sell cell phones and services. I've witnessed teens that can blow hundreds of dollars on 'toys' yet will waste a day standing in front of the same store trying to get rid of litters of kittens and puppies....what happened to those little fuzzies at the end of the day and they still had most of them? How can parents or young adults justify a $200-$450 cell phone, but fail to go through with a $125 spay or $85 neuter?

It seems life is awful cheap these days, whether it's puppies and kittens abandoned through no fault of their own or people that have been abandoned by Life and are now career criminals. Perhaps I even seem a bit judgmental and intolerant about these things, but dog gone it, where was our caring society, learned officials and ever so enlightened politicians when these were small manageable problems? Why and how did it ever get to such blown out proportions that it seems these issues, among many, are now insurmountable?

Blessings of Peace,

*from the TV show "Hard Time" about career criminals and the experiences they have going from jail to prison.

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"Bucky" was transported to his new home yesterday! Kay and I can't thank enough the good folks involved for helping this one dear spirit find a permanent home!

Grateful - you are in order for a Feline Civil Duty Oak Leaf Cluster Gold Medal to go along with the Gold Canine one I'm sure you've been awarded already! Again, thank you, your daughter and friends for making a new life for a deserving feline! (I'll send ya the full size one so you can see the de-tails and how paws-itive it really is!)

Blessings of Peace,

Al

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I just spoke to the owner/manager of one of the cat only, no kill shelters in our area. She is licensed to kennel 440 felines and is currently keeping 462 due to a tragic set of circumstances at an elderly housing unit. Operating cost are over $11k per month...just in feeding her lot...nearly $15k/mo overall and she owns the property outright. (120 acres inherited from her grandfather) The apartment fire that displaced some 16 elderly residents in Livingston last month also displaced nearly 2 dozen kitties and 10 dogs. She was able to get a temporary permit for the overage but had to show proof of adding on the kennels etc in order to be in accordance with county licensing laws.

This made me think all the more how it is really up to each of us to do what we can, with what we have for the lives of these animals.

Selfish, dumb Hu-mans have caused this problem of overpopulation of domesticated pets, both dogs and cats. When there is a tragedy, such as what shelters were built for in the beginning, there is now nowhere to put these animals.

Several months ago I read of a town, not far from Chernobyl (Russian nuclear meltdown) and the soldiers that patrolled the area felt sorry for a few dogs and cats left there after the evacuation. In 1986, there was a handful of strays - no exact # was given. Earlier this year, a team of scientific and military personnel were sent in to evaluate and monitor radiation levels. The sickening part of the story, I'll leave out.

By doing a per acre averaging formula, they determined there to be some 75,000 feral cats and 40,000 wild dogs living in the abandoned town and surrounding areas. It's to the point that towns, some 50 miles away are repeatedly reporting packs of "strange looking wild dogs attacking livestock" (sheep and goats). Many are hairless, some where said to have extra limbs, others very odd shape - all I would assume from the radiation effects.

My point in bring this up is merely to show, that left unchecked, how rapidly feral populations can grow.

On Maui, where we got our "Moki" kitty, he has a tattooed #M406 inside his right ear, to show he's been neutered, other places notch the ear to show that feral cats have been fixed.

So yes, as you say Grateful "Spay, neuter, educate" does seems to be one easy way for folks to do the most good for this problem. If a "handful" of feral cats can become over 75,000 in 26 years...can we even calculate how many cats there would be here in the states if millions of feral went unchecked? Astronomical in number.

IF that feral population were cared for, just food alone (domestic sources and prices) it's approximately $25 per month per kitty $1,875,000.00 per month just to feed that brood in "Oskarvonovikosoya" (I obviously don't recall the name of the town off hand)....and that's just the cats! So anyone that thinks, (even full price) $125 spay or $75 neuter is a problem....don't do it and see what an expense one would have! It boils down to just a few months of feeding per animal, let alone other needs and vet care.

Spay, Neuter, Educate! for sure!!

Blessings of Peace,

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We have an even more important reason to spay, neuter and educate in my area. Every year animal control and the state put out the warnings around this time of year. Lost, stray and feral cats tend to go by one name here: coyote chow.

If that thought is nauseating, it should be. Every few years, we have a kid (the human variety) get injured by a coyote attack. Once in a while, one dies. They are seeking food, and all these people who think it's a good idea to have "outdoor" cats that are unsupervised are just throwing appetizers in the back yard.

To these owners, it is "freedom for kitty." To animal control it's a catered buffet for coyotes.

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I think that each one of us who loves and cares for animals makes an enormous difference (yo, where's the paw print emoji?)

because we care about them, we talk about them to other people and our love and respect for them begins to spread :) I'm not a bumper sticker person but I do have one, it just says wag .. I can also recognize a fellow member of the dog spit club from quite a distance :) nothing says "I've been to the dog park" like the windows of a dog lover

when I worked in the community, I had a lot of opportunity to talk to kids and their families about pets :). I never preached, just tried to find common ground and work from there

one young mom, who I adored I should add, got a proper dressing down when she tried to convince me that the little six week old pup in her hands was a really good decision for her and her baby .. I just reminded her that little mr precious in her hands was going to be seventy five pounds in about six months, and that he would eat, alot, and that she lived in a one bedroom apartment, and she worked, and she went to school and she had trouble managing already, oh, and he would require housebreaking (she lived on the third floor)

I think everyone should enjoy a companion animal if they're of a mind, but I think the responsibility that goes along with it cannot be stressed enough

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  • 2 weeks later...
"the responsibility that goes along with it"

Kay and I have been discussing this a lot lately...off and on over the last couple of weeks actually...and is why I haven't responded until now.

We battled the decision to do an "intervention" for several months prior to this past event with "Bucky". Only a few, very few, times have we ever stuck our nose into someone else's rearing and keeping of their pets. We've often seen conditions that were marginal or at minimum 'not the way we'd do it', but as long as the animal(s) was not in any real danger or health risk...So Be It.

Even one or two pets is a lot of responsibility in both time and monetary expense. In the senior development where we live there are numerous pet owners and the rising costs of veterinarian care (especially spay/neuter) is frequently the topic of discussion at our monthly meetings. Most of the folks keep small dogs but there is a good number of kitty lovers and even a few friends of the aviary and reptile types. I've mentioned a number of times the feral cat problem here and after 5 years of diligent work we're finally down to a manageable number....3 more were finally caught by Animal Control just this passed week.

Like the woman you spoke of Grateful, they simply do not realize what they are in for. A busy gal like that is going to quickly tire of the responsibilities of walking that pup...young...adult doggy and unless she is willing to give it undivided attention during the training months....well ya know... and you had every right to talk to her the way you did.

Spay, Neuter, Educate is a responsibility every pet owner should take on especially for the pet's sake. I've seen far too many dogs chained to a lean-to out back of houses after the puppy wears off and far too many kitties left to fend for themselves out of the backyards of people thinking a kitten would be a wonderful gift for "Susie" or "Bobby". It seems as if kids these days don't want anything they can't just change the batteries in every now and then....beyond that it's simply too much 'trouble'.

I'm not sure what is worse, responsible pet owners that try to educate the people they meet in Life...or those that need the lesson because they just didn't think about the responsibilities of pet ownership! Some people may say we're sticking our nose in where it doesn't belong, but I'd rather get the 'nosy neighbor' label for helping out when the problem is small than the 'doesn't care' badge for a neglected pet any day!

Blessings of Peace,

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your storie s have inspired my gal and i to also start a litle plan here av. we call it 'courage and justice for all' pet sitting. the long winters up here requrie people to be late getg home from work often so we will walk the pets, make sure fed on time or whatev they need with no extr a charges. many of the other sitters charge big $ for the trouble of late arivals from work. beth and i started just 2 week ago and already have 4 cleints to get us thru the winter when i on lay off.

oh the other big news we are getting marries on dec 31! if of coures world not end on dec 21! we were wondering if we could have a friend join ulc and be okay for her to do our ceremony if she get ordain now. is there wait period for her or can she do it straight away? i pm you for more info.

from my iPhone 18-11-2012

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your storie s have inspired my gal and i to also start a litle plan here av. we call it 'courage and justice for all' pet sitting. the long winters up here requrie people to be late getg home from work often so we will walk the pets, make sure fed on time or whatev they need with no extr a charges. many of the other sitters charge big $ for the trouble of late arivals from work. beth and i started just 2 week ago and already have 4 cleints to get us thru the winter when i on lay off.

oh the other big news we are getting marries on dec 31! if of coures world not end on dec 21! we were wondering if we could have a friend join ulc and be okay for her to do our ceremony if she get ordain now. is there wait period for her or can she do it straight away? i pm you for more info.

from my iPhone 18-11-2012

great news! I do that too :) and the money IS great

more than the money though is that I just LOVE my visitor dogs, it's a pleasure to have them. I had two little ladies for two weeks for boarding and training this summer - their people said I didn't charge enough, and included an enormous tip (!). I have six steady walking clients, one has three bernese mountain dogs :)

check out vistaprint - I got 250 business cards for ten dollars, it took me about fifteen minutes to design and order, check it out and best of luck!

when I buy my new house I'm putting in a dog bone shaped wading pool for them

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Congrats are in order for your upcoming wedding and new business venture Blades!

I've answered your PM and I'm not aware of any 30 day waiting period to perform marriages. The person that told you may have been referring to making sure the Minister be in possession of credentials, not sure, but as long as the ULC has issued the officiant's license, all should be good. I've sent you further info regarding the quals etc.

What is becoming clear here is that a growing number of the ULC family is actively supporting the cause of individual pets. How cool is that?!? Whether it's helping overworked, underpaid pet owners with financial stability, housing and care for feral, abandoned or stray animals or simply giving of one's time to the many, many needs of existing shelters and animal pounds the animals that are fortunate enough to come into those people's live are genuinely touched in a positive manner.

I so agree Grateful, we can't save them all, but we can make a difference in the one's that walk along our individual paths!

Blessings of Peace,

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