Cat adoption deal at SPCA this weekend

By Mo Cranker on June 22, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

The Medicine Hat SPCA is at full cat capacity and is holding an event this weekend with the hopes of freeing up some space inside the shelter.

From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, all cats over the age of six months will be $50, half the normal adoption fee.

“We have a lot of cats right now; it’s been a tough year,” said cat adoption employee Joe Schafer. “Our event is two days, and it’s reduced adoption of a minimum of $50.

“For this event we’re excluding really young cats, but every cat is vet checked, have their vaccinations done, come spayed or neutered, dewormed and they come with adoption support — so it’s great value for that $50.”

Jackie Velcoff is the new fund development and communications officer at the SPCA, and she says the shelter needs help from the community.

“When our shelter is at capacity we rely even more on finding foster homes and finding donations,” she said. “Sometimes it goes beyond dollars if we need specific items, and we’ll make a call out on social media to try to find certain things.

“Toys, food, kitten milk replacement — things that people may have laying around their apartments and may not be using, we can always use them.”

Schafer says the crammed shelter is no fun for the cats.

“It’s very stressful for them, especially when we’re this full,” she said. “First and foremost, there’s just not enough room and cats are very territorial.

“Stressers lead to ill health of the cats, so we’re really hoping people will come down and pick up a new pet this weekend.”