Tuesday 24 July 2012

Bred to death. Patsy's Rant

This post is about cats, lots of them, too many of them in fact. Cat rescues up and down the country are full to the rafters with unwanted cats. We are a small rescue but we get lots of phone calls from people wanting to pass their cats on to us, for whatever reason. We can't take them all in, so I imagine some of them must get abandoned and be left to roam the streets and fend for themselves.

The situation is now well out of control, we have too many cats in this country. People see them as money machines and will breed from them to line their pockets. Then they get passed on to other people will not take responsibility for them and get them neutered and spayed. I won't beat about the bush here, back street breeders of any animals be it cats or dogs, are the lowest of the low in my book. If I had my way they would be closed down and prosecuted. They are the cause of thousands of unwanted and abandoned animals.

If anyone is considering buying a cat or a dog, please don't go to a breeder, there are thousands of perfectly lovely abandoned pets waiting for a second chance in a new home. Neve never never hand over your money to a breeder, you are only making the terrible situation ten times worse. We try and do our bit in our rescue, this week we have rehomed two six year old cats, who have been together since birth. Thankfully we have found a nice couple who have taken them into their home.

Janet found this open letter on a web site recently, which says it all. I have contacted the Rushden Persian Rescue to ask permission to copy and paste it here. I am happy to pass the message on. It's called Patsy's Rant

As many of you know, we are primarily a PERSIAN & PEDIGREE Rescue, but we do take non pedigrees (space permitting) and we (like all Rescues at the moment) are INUNDATED with unwanted cats/kittens (and not just 'moggies' !!!)

We neuter EVERYTHING adult & Kitten that comes through our doors. This not only protects them from being bred from, but also stops a large proportion of their offspring ending up in rescues and the hands of 'Back Yard Breeders' in the future !!!!!!!!

I am BEGGING breeders AND owners to early neuter your kittens to help stop perpetuating the misery these cats endure

Common practice is to wait until they are 6months of age, but we know from personal experience that this is too late and kittens are coming into 'season' or males mating at 4-5months of age and so adding to the problem of unwanted kittens.

I know MANY responsible breeders already neuter their kittens before they go home at 12-14 weeks, but too many young cats ''moggies and pedigrees'' sold as ''pets '' are coming in either pregnant or bred to death !!!! Even those sold as kittens from LAST YEAR are on their 2 nd litters already and we have a 2 year old Persian in who has had FIVE litters already! !!!

I feel breeders should take the responsibility to ensure their kittens get in the right hands and '' pet kittens'' should be neutered so they don’t end up as '' breeding machines'' , crated from 13 weeks old until their 1st season to then pop out litter after litter and then 'mum' is got rid of at the age of 4/5 years old ''not neutered'' , only to go to another back street breeder to be bred and bred until they die of neglect or a slow and painful death.

This is going on all over the place now because people wanting to make a fast buck, and you only have to look on some of the 'Pets for sale' sites to see pages of pedigree and 'half pedigree' kittens being sold ( MANY Pedigree kittens offered are un registered with no papers i.e the ''parent/s'' were sold as 'pets' and were NOT registered for breeding ! ) ... and VERY few state 'already neutered' and so the misery continues

We have been early neutering our kittens now for 4 years and have not lost a kitten yet. They come out of the operations and are eating and up and running straight away.

Yes i know some breeders say 'My vet won't do it ' but The Cats Protection League have published a list of vets that ARE willing to early neuter (there are 700 across the UK)

CLICK here for a list of 'Early Neuter Vets'.

so there is NO excuse !!...... The 'cost' can be added to the price of the kitten so breeders will not lose out and this one action will safeguard their 'babies'and help the Rescues too !!

Please Please consider early neutering .We need to stop all these cats and kittens pouring in every year

Letting a cat have ''just one litter'' doesn’t make them a better cat - its an old wives tale .... it just adds to the rescue population and puts them at risk of Felv/Fiv if left entire .

We are having 14/16 week old kittens coming into full season. With 'global warming' there isn’t a kitten season in the UK anymore ( it used to be between March to September ) but now days kittens are bred/born all through the year

Please do 'your bit' to help and EARLY NEUTER your kittens

Thank you

Patsy

I'm not sure if the links work here. You can look at the Rushden Persian Rescue site, but beware there are some very upsetting photo's of cats that have been neglected and ill treated.
http://www.rushdenpersianrescue.co.uk/

Thank you for reading.

13 comments:

  1. Our local rescue at Donna Nook reports 30 kittens at present needing homes. Totally agree with you.

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  2. Perfectly stated. I am vehemently against ALL animal breeders.If you want a particular breed of dog or cat, you want a fashion accessory rather than a family member. Off my soapbox now...I've not finished my vacuuming!!
    Jane x

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  3. DaisyChain24 July 2012 20:03

    Agree with you completely. I'm not going to click on your link - don't think I could bear it.

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  4. two weeks ago up here I went into the petshop to buy supplies for my animals and found a kitten in a cage in the middle of the pet room with a big sign saying '£10 donation'...I couldnt leave him,poor mite looked terrified so I brought him home, then just a couple of days ago the cats protection where called to kittens in a metal carrier left outside in the rain..with the mother cat on the outside of the cage!!!..only one kitten was alive when rescued and the one remaining was in a terrible state..now all of the kittens have passed away :( what kind of a cruel person does that? I truly do not and can not understand why people do not get there pets neutered!..such a cruel,cruel world at times!!!

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  5. All this is very sad. One of my cats who I found in the front garden was pregnant and the vet said she was about 3 - 4 months old.
    He neutered her and we had her for 17years. Here in Illinois most outdoor feral cats dont live past their first winter because of the cold.
    The man next door moved and just turned his cats out in the middle of winter to starve. I fed them until the Spring (I could nt coax them inside, they were too traumatised) and then they disappeared.

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  6. We got our dog from a rescue centre and she had been the most wonderful family pet. She is a mongrel/mix breed, now 14 without any behaviour problems or much illness at all. She was spayed straight away - it wasn't that expensive and makes life much easier for everyone. The problem with some people is that there is a bit of snobbery when it comes to dogs (not sure if its the same with cats). The breed of the dog is a status symbol or a fashion accessory. I knew someone who got a cocker spaniel puppy because it was so cute but gave it up after 3 weeks because it was "ruining" his lawn. I kid you not :$

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  7. We here in Indiana have a wonderful low cost high volume spay/neuter clinic that runs all year long and also does low cost vacinations and flea/heartworm protection. They are always full and are going to expand. Never enough though. Hundreds of cats and kittens come into Animal Care and Control (dog pound) every summer and probably no more than 20% make it out. Kittens can be spayed at 2 pounds and it is totally successful. Our feral program does this.

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  8. Hear hear! In recent times two of my friends have had kittens and said "I'll just let her have one litter...".

    My reply is: I know YOU will care for them and find good homes for them or keep them but, say there are four kittens; that's four homes that you will take up that cats already born could have. What will happen to the four cats you deprive of a home? Ultimately, for every kitten you allow to be born, one more will be put down.

    "But it would be so nice for the children to see them born and grow up..."

    I say: It would be far better for them to see responsible pet ownership from their parents. And there are plenty of websites (itty bitty kitty committee, love and hisses) where you can see kittens being fostered and even born to rescued pregnant cats.

    We might shortly be looking for another cat, but I catergorically told them I would not be taking a kitten they breed!

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    Replies
    1. P.S. Please could you post a link to the list of early neutering vets?

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  9. I agree absolutely with neutering early if it can help to stop this current situation. Our local cat rescues in the south of England are as full-to-bursting as yours are up in Lincolnshire.
    My youngest cat, who will be two in August, was neutered early via the RSPCA Rescue Centre and so far she is happy, fit and healthy.

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  10. Poor kitties! We have always had rescue cats. It's so sad to think of them all sitting there waiting for someone to love them whilst people are breeding other cats to make a fast £20.

    I am really sad now. :(

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  11. Hear Hear. People need to think of the cost of keeping pets and what their future plans are. I.e having childrenm and the extra work responsibility. The cast of keeping three cats for me is about £70 per month thats with insurance, cat litter food, pet insurance, £8.00 put away every month for vaccinations, flea treatment etc. So its about £25.000 per cat.
    They also cause cat hairs and extra housework.
    But if people take all the above into consideration and can afford them. Cats make wonderfulpets I love mine dearly and would never be with out them Mine are all rescue and I tend to re home older cats as they are harder to rehome.
    I think you do a wonderful job. But charitys need to do a campaign making people think carfully before taking on an animal as they are too quickly discarded.

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  12. Sorry about several gramatical errors. Its £25.00 not £25.000

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