I visited the Cleveland Animal Protective League (APL) this morning as I have never been to an animal rescue before and I was overwhelmed by the incredible number of cats and dogs looking for loving homes. I know I could not work at an animal shelter - so many life or death decisions being made every day. The APL places 5,000 cats and dogs a year in the Cleveland area - that's about 14 a day.
Cats in particular at this time of year are just flowing into shelters because a) it's kitten season and there are still too many unspayed or neutered cats around, and b) people are moving and abandoning their cats. At this time of year, they have 40-50 cats arriving per day. I know there aren't that many people adopting them though...
So, as a result of my visit we've decided to adopt a new cat as a friend for Barnes. We had always meant to get a cat after Simon was killed but I didn't follow up on it, what with everything else that was going on. Perhaps it was just meant to be, waiting until now.
I'll let you know how we get on.
But please, if you can squeeze in another cat into your family, go ahead and help out the APL or any other local shelter to reduce the number of cats looking for homes by adopting a cat, young or old. You will be doing a great thing for the shelter and for your family.
P.S. Did you notice the new Petfinder widget on the right hand side of the blog? You can use it to look for a cat or dog to adopt in your area.
