THUNDER BAY - Cats are often a welcome addition to any home, providing stress relief and companionship, but more and more felines are in need of a home.
“This year has been the worst year,” said Michelle Gagnon-Fummerton, president of Caring Hearts Cat Rescue and Sanctuary. “Last year was pretty bad in the summer with the abundance of cats, but this year it has been really an awful year for the amount of cats and kittens. There are kittens everywhere this year.”
In an effort to find the right home for kittens and adults cats, Caring Hearts Cat Rescue held its spring adoption fair at PetSmart as part of National Adoption Weekend.
The three-day fair saw at least eight kittens adopted and two adult cats. But there are many more still in need of a home with 52 kittens and approximately 68 adult cats currently living in the Caring Hearts Cat Rescue Sanctuary.
There will be a transfer of animals to Southern Ontario where there is a waiting list for people wanting to adopt a cat, but even though cats are being transferred out, more continue to come in, including six kittens arriving on Sunday from Grassy Narrows.
Gagnon-Fummerton said there has also been a lot of surrenders this year and they have been forced to turn away several surrendered cats because they do not have the space to care for them.
“There are a lot of abandoned cats, pregnant moms that are abandoned and left outside and rescued by someone pleading for help,” she said. “There are also situations with the elderly where they get sick and their cats would either be put down and they are desperate to have their cats in a location where they are safe and adopted out.”
Part of the problem is people not spaying or neutering their animals. Gagnon-Fummerton said the low-cost spay and neuter clinic at the Thunder Bay District Humane Society has helped the situation, but there are still too many unneutered cats in and around the city.
“It would be best to encourage people that if they cannot really afford a spay or neuter, even through the Humane Society, that they reconsider or maybe get an older cat that is already spayed or neutered instead of jumping on a kitten,” Gagnon-Fummerton said. “The costs rises for all the injections and vaccinations and spay and neuter.”
“There are so many animals here in Thunder Bay. There really needs to be an outcry for something to be done or some type of help for people.”
Caring Hearts Cat Rescue will be holding additional adoption fairs, including June 15 at Pet Value and June 22 at Sleeping Giant Brewery.
They will also be at the Intercity Shopping Centre next weekend.