My post today is by a guest writer, Cindy Crouch, who is a volunteer with the Humane Society Paws and Shop store,  and it has been published before in the Charleston Gazette (with help from Karin Fuller).  Cindy wrote to tell me how much she liked my blog (thanks!) and sent me this.  I thought it was worthy of sharing with the rest of you.  WARNING: this is a tear-jerker and it is hard to read.  However, it's a pretty fair depiction of how things are. 

A kitten was born today. A pretty little calico that looks just like her mother. She has five siblings--two brothers and three sisters. All very cute.

The mother's owners had planned to get her fixed later, but money was tight and they're busy people. Besides, she's so pretty. It shouldn't be hard to find homes for her kittens. So the pretty little calico and her siblings grew happy and healthy, playing together, chasing each other's tails. Then one day, the pretty little calico overheard the people talking.

"No one is answering our ad for free kittens," one of them said. "And we can't afford to keep feeding them all."
"Well, I tried calling all the local pet shops," said the other. "But they said they had plenty of kittens already. I even tried calling the Putnam County Humane Society, but the volunteer said they're only allowed to have six cats at their thrift shop and all of their foster homes are full. I guess we'll have to take them to the shelter."

The next day, the pretty little calico and her siblings were gathered up and taken to a strange place. It seemed to the pretty little calico that every cat and kitten in the whole world must be at that place. There were so many. It was scary there, with so many different smells and noises and everyone crying. She could even hear puppies and dogs.

From time to time, people would come and look at them, and once in a while, they'd take a cat or kitten with them when they left. One of the pretty little calico's brothers was picked. He mewed goodbye as he left. For days, this went on, with more and more cats and kittens being brought in each day, and only a few being chosen to leave.

Then one day, the pretty little calico and her four remaining siblings were gathered up, along with several other cats and kittens, and carried through several doors. As they went, they could see some dogs and puppies being gathered up, too. They were all taken to a room with one piece of furniture, and as the person placed the pretty little calico on the cold steel table, she looked at her sadly and said, " I hate this. You're such a good girl. If only your people had been more responsible."

The pretty little calico was the first to be killed that day. After her small body was wrapped in plastic, it was thrown in the dumpster.

If you multiply the gruesome reality of what happened to this one pretty little calico by a few thousand more, you'd have an idea of the situation in Putnam County.  It makes me angry and frustrated and incredibly sad. I can only imagine how the people who work at the shelter must feel. Like many animal lovers, I couldn't work there, but since I'm determined to help, I volunteer for the Putnam County Humane Society, which is separate from the shelter.

It's baffling how Putnam County--one of the richest and fastest growing counties in the state-can have a substandard shelter. Although there's talk of building another one, a bigger, better shelter was needed yesterday. What's also baffling is how people, like those who owned the pretty little calico's mother, can consider themselves responsible pet owners because they feed and shelter their pet, and because they didn't just dump the kittens by the side of the road, but took them to the shelter instead. Yet they didn't take time to do the most responsible thing of all-they didn't get their pet fixed.

So many are quick to claim that they're animal lovers and they sit dabbing at their eyes as they watch Animal Cops on TV, but do they do anything to help the suffering animals right here? There are several ways that they can.

First of all, they can get their pets spayed or neutered. Cost should not be a factor, as the Putnam County Human Society has a program available (the Low Income Spay/Neuter Assistance Program) to help cover the cost of the procedure. The Putnam County Humane Society also subsidizes the cost to spay and neuter county shelter animals before adoption.

Foster homes for pets are constantly needed, as are blankets and cages and food. Volunteers are also needed at the shelter and with the Humane Society, and monetary donations to the shelter are always welcome. (If you donate, be sure to earmark the donation for something specific, like dog food or medicine, to make certain it doesn't get spent on something that's not pet-care related.)

The Putnam County Humane Society funds their assistance programs through money made from their Hurricane Thrift Shop and from different fund raisers held throughout the year. And they manage to do all this with just 10-12 core volunteers (four of whom manage to volunteer while working full-time jobs, and two of the other volunteers are over age 70).

But more help is badly needed. But most of all, if you care about animals, please be responsible and get your pet fixed.

We owe it to that pretty little calico. And to the thousands just like her, there in the landfill.

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Note from Sarah: If you've read this far, thank you.  I know this was a heart-breaking read, but I have been a volunteer at the animal shelter during kitten season, I know this is the way it is.  The photos in this post are of cats and kittens that were at the shelter when I was a volunteer.  I do not know if they got homes or not, I learned not to ever ask.  I am JOYOUS that the fund raising for our new shelter has begun!