The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Event to highlight and benefit number of abandoned creatures
Animal awareness benefit to feature many attractions
BRANFORD — Like Punxsutawney Phil squinting into the sunlight after a year of hibernation, the Branford Compassion Club feline rescue and adoption organization will welcome visitors to the Branford Green as part of Animal Awareness Day early next month.
Sunday’s event, which runs from noon to 4 p.m., will be the nonprofit’s first live, in-person event in two years, a long intermission that everyone interviewed from the group described as a “tough” one.
Being closed to the public is not exactly ideal when a group’s mission is the touchy-feely business of finding forever homes for
homeless felines — or when kitten season proves to be epic for those two years, organizers said.
“We’re hoping people will feel comfortable to come out for what is a fun-filled, family day,” Fundraising Chairperson Chris Gagne said. “It was crazy challenging, because it’s the first live event in two years, and we want it to be special, so we have high hopes that people are ready to get outdoors and have fun.”
Animal Awareness Day, emceed by Dennis Nardella, is BCC’s annual free celebration of their love of animals, highlighted by the blessing of the animals at 1:30 p.m., which attracts an array of pets.
The always anticipated bake sale will be back, along with kids’ activities, games, live music by Sal Annunziato, an eclectic group of vendors, food trucks, WPLRFM booth, Quinnipiac University Professor Donna Latella’s mini therapy horses, a dog kissing booth, search-and-rescue dog demos, and presentation by Carolyn Sires and Victory from Educated Canines Assisting People with Disabilities.
Financial hardships
During the first year of the pandemic, when people were not leaving their homes, BCC fared better than it’s doing now, President Peg Johnson said.
“During the first year of COVID, the shelter operated with less than half the normal volunteer staff, and it was very hard on the few volunteers who worked long hours and multiple shifts [to care for the cats],” Johnson said. “Thankfully, we are back to an almost full staff.
“But this year, the hardship is more of a financial one, caused in part by not being able to hold public fundraisers, but, mostly because of expenses incurred with a large increase of ownersurrendered and abandoned cats …”
A lot of people were looking for companionship or a pet for home-bound kids, and took a leap of faith by adopting kittens they’d selected through Zoom chats with the fosterers, videos and photos, then completed the adoptions curbside, BCC said. None were returned. But this year, the organization reports, adoptions are down.
During the pandemic, phones were ringing off the hook with people unable to afford their pets, begging BCC to take their animals, because that other shelters and rescues had turned them away, shelter Manager Lianne Soucy said.
“We take them in, because that’s what we do. That’s our mission,” she added.
Hoarding situations boost problem
There has also has been an increase in hoarding situations to which BCC has responded, they said, which really strain resources. Take, for example, the pickup of 27 cats from one site, 25 of which needed spaying or neutering and/or medical attention. They included a mother with seven kittens, five of which had died.
“It starts out as good intentions with people being compassionate and caring, but if you don’t spayneuter, you’re going to end up with a problem,” Soucy said of hoarding. “At one site, there were four pregnant moms, which resulted in 25 kittens …”
Even individual rescues may require medical care, such as Alyssia, a “charmer” who came in with facial and eye trauma that turned into a sinus infection that interfered with her sense of smell, causing her to stop eating. Another hurdle: She was pregnant, which precluded certain medicines. A month ago, she toughed through the birth of seven kittens, one of which died, BCC said.
Intakes on hold
Without benefit or fundraisers, and with summer vet bills hovering at $40,000 for both spay/ neuter and medical vetting, the shelter is saying “no” for the first time.
“I’ve been asked to have our intake on hold … because of our financial situation, just because it costs so much money to do vetting,” Soucy said.
“That’s really tough. …We are often asked to step in and help when other shelters can’t. We’re kind of like the go-to shelter, but not now, because our intake is on hold …,” they can’t,” she said.
Johnson is optimistic, though, looking ahead to 2022, when BCC will celebrate its 25th anniversary. “We plan on celebrating throughout 2022 and welcome animal lovers to follow us on Facebook and our website.”
Thanks to its sponsors and vendors, Animal Awareness Day will be free, but donations are welcome on site or at the BCC website, where visitors can also look into a sustaining donation and sponsorship of cats housed at the shelter at 2037 Foxon Road, North Branford.
“Every little bit helps,” Soucy said. “It doesn’t have to be a huge amount. Everything makes a difference.”
Information on the pet photo contest and more details can be found at branfordcompassionclub.org.