Spay Neuter Kingston Initiative

This Wednesday, March 31, a cooperative effort between Spay Neuter Kingston Initiative and Lennox and Addington Feline Fixers will begin a T/N/V/R program for a colony of feral cats at Bath Correctional Institution. The cats have been befriended and cared for by the inmates of the medium security prison and provide companionship and the benefits of the human-animal bond to men who are paying a debt to society and turning their lives around.

There is no question that programs for inmates that foster this human-animal bond foster the rehabilitation that is expected from their incarceration. Statistics from all over North America where such programs exist demonstrate their success. Unfortunately, it seems the media seldom focus on the success stories of inmates who do their time and return to society. It is a better story, sells more papers, and attracts more viewers if we talk about the failures.

Nevertheless, the outpouring of support for this project has been overwhelming. Hundreds of well wishers are signing our petitions for the colony`s return to the prison grounds after surgery, and many of them are contributing money to help bring this about. The inmates themselves have collected $1,000 which the Inmate Committee will give towards this effort. It is the hope of all involved that this story will attract attention to the pet overpopulation crisis in Ontario and in other jurisdictions.

There are those who think that abandoning a cat or kittens is the solution to unwanted pets. Others adopt an animal only to realize that they really don`t want it and take it to a shelter to become someone else`s problem. The resources of municipalities and animal welfare groups are not great enough to handle the ever increasing numbers. Therefore, far too many of these animals linger while they wait for their forever homes, and become sick and/or are euthanized to make more room for the ones coming in. It costs money to euthanize animals. It also wastes the resources used to house and care for the animals, which, by law, must be kept four days by the shelter before slating them to move forward in the adoption process or selected for lethal injection.

You can help by supporting T/N/V/R in your community and contributing funds to your shelters and to organizations that will assist with spay/neuter programs to reduce the burden on our shelters and municipal resources.

http://felinefixers.yolasite.com/

http://www.snki.org