APARC was close to euthanizing cats for space last week, but community support helped the organization avoid that.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
Last week Alberta Pound and Rescue Centres asked the community for immediate support so it could make space in its shelter and avoid euthanizing animals.
After quite a bit of social media action, APARC has gained some breathing room and the alarm has been turned off – for now.
Since APARC is contracted by the city, it is not able to close its services. That means when the city needs it to take new animals, the shelter has to have space.
APARC has a network of fosters, including the Page and Whisker bookstore downtown and local pet stores, as well as a Barn Buddy program that lets farm owners have feral cats on their farms for $25. Ultimately, the shelter is heavily reliant on the community to adopt cats.
“Every spring and summer we have kitten season and we see a huge influx of kittens and their moms,” said animal care supervisor Cristina Young. “When the weather gets warmer, people let their cats out which is against the bylaw. A lot of cats are not spayed or neutered and they breed with each other, as well as with the feral cat population.
“Kittens are born outside and then come to us.”
Young says hundreds of kittens pass through APARC during kitten season. Last week alone, APARC had 42 cats and a handful of dogs needing shelter.
“That filled up all of our kennels, which put us in an overflow position,” she said. “It really put us in a sticky situation.”
Young says APARC was around 48 hours away from having to make a decision on euthanization.
“We’ve never had to euthanize for space and we want to keep it that way,” she said. “Our community really stepped up in fostering and adopting animals within the last week. People who can’t adopt or foster came through with donations, which go a long way.
“We’re happy to say we didn’t have to euthanize any animals.”
Young says there were 34 adoptions within the last week or so, which includes kittens, adults and feral barn cats.
While the shelter has some breathing room, it still needs continued support.
“We still have a lot of cats that need homes,” said Young.
For more information go to http://www.aparc.ca
