The Charity Cat project, under the umbrella of the STDOA, began due to cats who turned dog people into cat people.
It started last summer with, literally, a cardboard box of kittens left on a porch. It’s grown to taming, neutering, rehoming and/or TNR-ing feral or abandoned cats in St. Thomas. Establishment of “community cat colonies” for the city’s wild cats, pressing for low-cost spay and neutering – on Charity Cat’s agenda.
STDOA secretary and Charity Cat person Linda Spencer was on CTV London news Tuesday talking about wild cats living in St. Thomas ravines. It was part of an item on the huge increase this year of cats at Animal Aide. Please, if you haven’t yet, neuter your pet! You may think there should be more dogs or cats just like your special one, so you want to give the world the gift of their offspring. But other very special dogs and cats die every day in shelters, pounds or in the streets and woods. Give them a chance, neuter yours.
Caring Pet Cupboard
‘Real life’ means I have to stop writing here for now, so here are some final thoughts. The Caring Pet Cupboard food donation programme is doing wonderfully and will continue with different volunteers collecting and distributing the food. As of the end of May, we have collected 7659 pounds of dog and cat kibble, 661 cans of dog and cat food, 200 packages of treats, 45 miscellaneous items such as cat litter, collars, leashes, bowls etc. And we received a $10 gift card in an Aylmer bin. On top of the amounts collected in our bins in St. Thomas and Aylmer businesses, we have received the same amount, about 4 tons, of dog and cat kibble from pet food companies.
All that food has been used – and more. Recently, with demand outstripping supply, we have bought food from STDOA funds in order to provide the food banks in St. Thomas and Aylmer with enough. We’ve been told “owner surrenders” of pets at the pound is down. Don’t know if that is connected with the Caring Pet Cupboard, but I do know that food bank usage has increased dramatically in the past few months. It will be one and a half years at the end of June since we started this programme. It’s been successful, I’d say! Thank you to everyone who has contributed.
Dog Park
Update on the dog park weeds: still not cut. Park users are not happy and many, like me, have stopped going because it’s too difficult for keep track of their dogs. Please, City, get them under control!
The dog park is one of the most used park areas in the city, but not in summer when there’s a risk of ticks and seeds or sticks getting caught in dogs’ fur or, worse, their eyes. Five foot high weeds don’t do anything for preservation of nature except spread like, well, weeds!
Horse Racing
A final horse racing note: The Belmont was a thrilling race even without a Triple Crown possibility. I am so glad that I’ll Have Another’s people didn’t take the chance with his safety by racing him. Paynter and Union Rags both ran magnificently, but I’m glad Union Rags vindicated himself and his owner’s faith in him. Congratulations to all and thanks for a great five weeks.
From my St. Thomas Dog Blog on this date. Charity Cat TNR is on Facebook. January 2024: Sadly I update this to say that Linda Spencer passed away on Jan. 11, 2024. She is survived by cats from those early Charity Cat days. We all will miss her enormously.
