Low Cost Spay/Neuter in Colorado

This year several organizations are participating in Spay Day USA, an effort to provide low-cost spay neuter across the country including in Colorado in order to control the cat overpopulation problem.


Sunday, February 22, Spay Today will be offering $25 procedures. Preregistration is recommended but walk-ins may be accommodated. Call 303-98-4SPAY to preregister for this event.
The Cat Care Society, Divine Feline, the Dumb Friends League Meow Mobile and LuLu Mobile, and Rocky Mountain Alley Cat Alliance  have teamed up with the goal of providing 130 spay and neuter procedures on Monday, February 23. Contact Kathleen Kramburg at 303-202-3516 or kathleen@rmaca.org.


On Tuesday, February 24 the Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital will be offering subsidized spay and neuter at a cost of $25. To make an appointment, call 303-722-5800 extension 525.


The Longmont Humane Society will be performing $20 spays and neuters for cats on Wednesday, February 25. Call the shelter at 303-772-1232 extension 280 to make an appointment.

These generous organizations are offering these procedures at a very low-cost so there isn't any reason why you can't help control the cat overpopulation problem in your community. Start today by making an appointment for your cat!


**If you read this after the date listed, contact the organization/clinic.  Often times, they offer these services on a regular basis.  If not, these clinics may offer the low cost clinics once a month.  You can use the same contact information listed above.**

Low Cost Spay/Neuter Options in Massachusetts

The Cambridge Animal Commission is working with the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS) to have the Spay Mass Van visit Cambridge. Dates are Feb. 25, March 25 and April 28 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the Gore Street side of the East Cambridge Fire Station.

MRFRS is a nationally recognized, nonprofit volunteer organization committed to ensuring the health and welfare of feral and domestic cats and kittens by promoting proactive, compassionate, no-kill programs. The van travels to locations such as local humane societies, schools, town/city halls and other central locations and provides high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter services to cats and kittens. Low-cost vaccines and micro-chipping services and other veterinary services are also provided.

Pet owners drop their cats and kittens off at the van location in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. The Spay Mass Van operates five days a week and travels to numerous locations in Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.

The cost is $75 for spay/neuter and vaccine services. For an appointment, email spaymass@mrfrs.org or call 888-495-7729. For more information, call 978-462-0760 or visit www.mrfrs.org.

**If you read this after the date listed, contact the organization/clinic.  Often times, they offer these services on a regular basis.  If not, these clinics may offer the low cost clinics once a month.  You can use the same contact information listed above.**

Update on Oklahoma teens who beat their two pet cats and posted video on youtube

Two Lawton area teens accused of beating a cat and posting it on YouTube over the weekend will be going through the juvenile justice process in Oklahoma. The 14 and 16-year-old brothers each face two charges of animal cruelty after law enforcement was directed to two videos on Sunday that showed the beating and torture of the grey cat named Dusty, and each video carries separate charges.

During their investigation, the Comanche County Sheriff's Department discovered a third abuse video that shows the beating of a black and white cat - also at a teens' home. The sheriff's department rescued that cat today.

The videos uploaded to YouTube show two separate incidents of animal abuse involving the same cat, and the teens face separate charges for each video. "We filed two counts of animal cruelty on each of the two teenagers today," said Comanche County District Attorney Robert Schulte. "They will be referred to the juvenile court system. We'll expect them to make their appearance early this week before the juvenile judge."

The teenagers have a right to a jury trial, and if they waive that, a judge will decide their fate. Until the two suspects are 18-years-old they are considered juveniles and the court records will be sealed. However, Schulte says he knows there is a lot of public concern over the case, and the court is taking it seriously. "I can tell you that our juvenile judge is a long-standing judge, very conservative, very well thought of, very well respected judge," he said. "He will do what he believes is necessary, and feels best in this case as it goes through the system."

The courts have ensured that the pets will not be abused again. Dusty was removed from the home on Sunday, and the second cat was removed Tuesday. "They have been treated by local veterinarians, they are doing well," said Schulte. "They will not go back into the home, and they are expected to be adopted out into a good home in the next few days."

Schulte says he did not know what punishment the boys may face if found guilty, but said the penalties for a juvenile conviction could include psychological counseling, court monitoring until they turn 18, community service to provide restitution for treatment of animals, and/or placement in court custody.


pet-abuse.com 

Low Cost Declawing

You will actually not find any vet who will do "low cost" declawing.  There are a few reasons for this: 1. It is NOT medically necessary.  2. It does NOT better the health of your cat. 3. It is an amputation and many vets won't even perform the procedure because they feel it is unethical.

Declawing is uncommon outside the United States.  It is banned in England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.  In the United Kingdom, it is actually illegal and under their law is considered animal cruelty!  Source: declawing.com

As you can see below, the incision goes beyond just the claw.  Not only is the bone removed, but so are ligaments, tendons and nerves. This is a painful surgery that requires recovery time. This human equivalent is to break your last knuckle and cut off the tips of your fingers.  Sounds like a good deal, huh?  Try living a normal life without the ends of your fingers.

Read more about the procedure by clicking here .

You can believe all of the nuts out there who defend declawing if you want-it's your cat.  My childhood cat was declawed when I was about 9.  Of course, I did not have the opinions I have now and I had no qualms about him getting declawed.  My mother made the decision and he actually had no problems with the procedure itself except for bloody bandages for a few days.  However, he did have one problem because of being declawed.  He was at my grandmother's house (in the country) while we were on vacation when I was about 11 and he was attacked by two feral cats when he slipped out of the door.  From that attack, he received about a 2 inch long, 1 inch deep gash on his back.  If he had claws, he probably would have felt confident enough to fight them back and could have done some damage to them.  Without his claws, it seems that he just tried to run away and they pounced on him.  

That is one of the biggest reasons people (like me) oppose declawing.  We are taking away one of the only defenses a cat has to protect itself!

If you want to declaw your cat, be prepared to deal with the consequences!  When people declaw their cat, they can have issues such as litter box aversion (going outside the litter box), they can lose the ability to climb, jump or keep their balance, their behavior and demeanor may change due to their perceived vulnerability.  Your cat may live in pain because as cat owners we know that cats often hide pain or illness.  Having no claws and no bone in their foot drastically changes the design of their foot.  They are designed to run, jump, climb and be very agile.  Without those bones, they might not be able to do those things as well as they should.  

There is no way to tell how a cat will react to a declawing procedure but why (if you love your cat) would you gamble with their health both mentally and physically?!?!  It may end up just fine, or you may bring your happy, friendly cat to the vet and live the rest of your life with a scared, unpredictable ball of fur in the corner who doesn't use the litter box!  What would you do then?  Bring it to the shelter to be killed-OF COURSE!!!!

I see it all the time.  People bring cats to the shelter (where we DO NOT KILL THEM but most of the time the people do not know that when they bring their cat in) and they say they have behavior problems and yes, they declawed them.  Hmm...and we ask, well when did the behavior problems start? (Usually after declawing, or made worse with declawing)  What can we do to help you with your cat?  Can we help correct the behavior so you can bring them back home with you?  Nope.  They want to leave the cat with us and get a new one.  At least they won't be killed with us.

People declaw cats for convenience.  Would you take your child to the doctor to have the last knuckle broken and the ends of their fingers cut off because they are being destructive?  OF COURSE NOT!  How would they live their lives normally?  They are supposed to have the ends of their fingers!!

So, why would you even consider it with an animal that uses those "fingers" for protection!?

Before you have a cat declawed, consider how painful the procedure is and try alternatives. There are several: (1) Learn to clip your cat's nails  , (2) give Soft Paws a try, (3) supply lots of tall and STURDY scratching posts and encourage their usage and discourage scratching anywhere else. Cats want their scratching posts to be sturdy and not move when they scratch on them.  I find that most cats prefer sisal rope scratching posts (click here for one I have personally that my cats love and does not move when they scratch on it) and the cardboard ones that lay on the floor (click here for an example) but definitely shop around for one that your cat likes most.

References:
http://www.askthecatdoctor.com/declawingcats.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onychectomy#United_Kingdom
http://www.catscratching.com/ 
http://www.softpaws.com/

Teenagers in Oklahoma video taped themselves beating a cat and posted it on Youtube

An animal abuse story that has sparked outrage across the country has Comanche County Sheriff Kenny Stradley saying that two local boys are responsible. The teen was filmed beating and torturing a cat, and uploaded it to YouTube over the weekend. It was viewed about 30,000 times.

Internet observers along with information from popular websites such as YouTube, Reddit, Digg, Facebook and Myspace, came up with pictures posted by a teen in Lawton that related to parts of the video. That's when 7News and local authorities began receiving calls. "At this time, it appears that it is here in Lawton. We re just at the beginning of this, but it s looking like it is from Comanche County," said Stradley.

The horrifying day may be over for the cat, but it is just getting started for its abusers. "We'll put it together and take it to the D.A. It will be up to the D.A. whether or not he files charges or not. Our job is to put the investigation together as a case and take it to the DA and that's what we'll do," said Stradley.

Sheriff Kenny Stradley says the cat has been taken to a local veterinarian and that investigators have questioned two boys.

The abusers names are not being released because they are minors.

What I want to know is who are the sick people, all 30,000 of them who would watch this video!?!?!  This is just disgusting! 

Contact Sheriff Kenny Stradley:

Comanche County Sheriff's Department
Comanche County Courthouse
315 SW 5th Street
Room 102
Lawton, Oklahoma 73501

580.353.4280

(I cannot find an email address for the Sheriff)


http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9852277

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/15258/OK/US/

Dog found frozen to death in New Jersey

A man was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after he allowed a dog to freeze to death Saturday, officials said.

Robert Dunbar, 25, of Sixth Avenue was charged Tuesday night with three counts of animal cruelty after Sgt. Matty Juliano of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was sent to investigate the death of a female pit bull-mix.

Juliano was accompanied by township police, SPCA Police Chief Victor "Buddy" Amato said.

Dunbar faces up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $3,000 if he is convicted of the charges in Municipal Court, Amato said.


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