Editorial
Grady Judd will not allow us to show him the truth so he can Learn, be Educated, and change the law in Polk county.
Allow me to explain. There are millions upon millions of cats living in the wild around the world. There just aren’t enough homes for all of them and certainly not enough understanding people knowing the ways of feral cats.
When I see your pleas of “Oh don’t release him back.”, “Why don’t you just find him a home?” or expressing your concern about how inhumane this entire situation is, all I can do is shake my head.
I love that you’re concerned, but with these kinds of statements, they tell me you have never volunteered at a shelter or rescue. Once exposed to the ugly truth and overwhelming situation of not just kittens flowing into shelters, but the need for fosters, medical treatment, and supplies is just the tip of the iceberg, perhaps it will open your eyes a bit.
Have ever wondered why the Polk County animal services are by the county dump? And that Polk County animal services is a kill shelter?
As I mentioned, there just aren’t enough homes. The majority of kittens in shelters come from feral colonies. We need to stop the uncontrollable breeding! TNR does this!
TNR helps cats from breeding and the prevention of numerous cancers and many other medical issues. Far too many mothers die during the birthing process. Far too many kittens are born with birth defects from an unhealthy environment and/or inbreeding.
Four-month-old kittens get pregnant, with the possibility of giving birth every three months. That is no way to live. So we do the best we can, which is providing neutering and vaccinations.
Within a few weeks, you will see the improvement in their overall physical being and their attitude.
As far as returning them, they are being returned to THEIR home, unless deemed unsafe. There are countless volunteers out every day caring for and monitoring colonies, while also providing TNR.
With 1.4 million cats euthanized annually, what are you doing to help this situation?
Learn. Educate. Volunteer.
He wants them dead because he’s ignorant. Because he’s an avid bird watcher, he feels that these cats are killing wild birds — which they are — but if they stop reproducing, there would be less feral cats! Polk county is so backwards in SO many ways! I wish Grady and the commissioners were open to dialogue to find beneficial solution for both cats and those wanting to kill the poor cats.
There’s millions of people moving into Polk county Grady… should we, no! We don’t so leave the cats alone
I have trapped feral cats and kittens. Fixed shots found homes for all. It just takes time and effort. Animal control will give you traps to catch them. Some vets notch an tip of the ear as a sign that they have been caught and fixed.
We have three feral cats at our office that were caught and spayed by another office. When they moved two buildings down, the cats didn’t make the transition. There is no way I could turn my back on them – they don’t understand. Two of them are a little skittish but the third one is a love. They all three meet me every morning. I got automatic feeders for them for the weekends but usually make the 15 mile one way trip at least twice on the weekends (we’re closed on Fridays) to make sure they’re ok. We have labs and never a cat but they’ve become my babies too.
You need to home them or put them down.
You are such a sweetheart.
It’s not the cats’ fault that humans dump them, abandon them, don’t get them fixed. They’re just trying to survive in a hostile environment and more should be done to help them. We have a few feral cats living in our storm strain in my community. I reached out to the Polk No Kill Coalition and they came out, trapped them, got them vaccinated and fixed, and released them back. They can live here just not have more babies.
and just where is this money supposed to come from? Am I supposed to take food from my family to fix someone else stray cat? Try doing an editorial on something IMPORTANT like how media and social media has ruined this nation……
Animals matter, too. If as humans we are uncaring for an innocent animal, I doubt we can care for another human. I’d rather spend my money helping animals any day over irresistible humans having kids that they can’t afford! And by the way, if the cat is a “stray”, it doesn’t belong to anyone.
bless your heart honey…… go save all the cats in the world…but do not expect me to