Record number of cats at shelter
Manawatu’s SPCA is filling up with record numbers of unwanted kittens, as the shelter receives 30 per cent more felines than last year.
SPCA general manager Danny Auger said the fact its cat breeding season was making the situation worse. Since November, the shelter has housed about 600 cats and kittens.
Auger says pet shops selling undesexed animals were contributing to the problem, although the shops themselves are divided on the issue.
‘‘Currently we have 150 kittens and 10 cats both in the centre and foster care,’’ Auger said. ‘‘It’s a 30 per cent increase from last year.
‘‘I feel like we’re banging our head on a brick wall when pet shops are throwing out thousands of kittens every year and not desexing them.’’
Wet Pets owner Eric Lister rejected Auger’s comments and said most of its animals were too young to be desexed before being sold.
Lister said Wet Pets offered ‘‘good rates’’ through Central Vets and Pets for new owners to have their pets spayed.
‘‘A kitten can not be desexed until they are two kilograms and we sell the kittens from eight weeks of age and upwards,’’ he said.
‘‘By the time they are two kilograms, the kittens are up to five months old and are hard to rehome.’’ Lister said private sales were the biggest problem.
A Tweeters and Friends Pet Shop representative, who wouldn’t be named, said they supported Auger’s comments.
‘‘We decided well before kittenbreeding season not to sell [undesexed kittens] for the very reason that the SPCA states,’’ the representative said.
‘‘We did sell [un-desexed kittens] until last year. We followed up on a few of the kittens that had gone to new homes and found that some owners had not got their cats desexed or vaccinated hence our stand against selling them.’’
Auger said pet shops were aided by an absence of laws and regulations to force them to desex animals. He believed stricter laws needed to be imposed for the sake of animal welfare.
Animals in the SPCA system are desexed, vaccinated, microchipped and given flea and worm treatment.
‘‘You can get a cat at a pet shop for $30-60, but it’s worth paying the extra money early. It will ultimately cost more if it falls pregnant and you have to take two or three litters of kittens to the vet to be put down.’’ Auger said he felt the SPCA’S efforts were pointless if large numbers of un-desexed animals continued to be sold.