state wide spay/neuter programs

Dorrie🐱🐶🐯🐰🐵🐻🐼💝!

By Dorrie Maynard

Here’s a feel-good story for you: It’s about a woman who helped save and trap two of the luckiest feral kittens in Worcester!

The woman’s name is Melissa and the two (twin?)sister kittens are named Daisy and Delilah. They are completely black and precious!

Daisy and Delilah!

They were born outside, in the elements, and now live the life of kitty royalty. Melissa had owned a cat years ago, but for a very long time, after it died, she never got another one until she saw these kittens, homeless and helpless, in her backyard.

She got in touch with me. We set live traps in her yard. There were originally four kitties: one must have been taken in by someone else, and one of the others had died right before Melissa was going to take her in. Melissa was devastated but determined to save the two remaining kittens.

Like all feral kittens – kittens born to feral cats and are unused to human contact – these babies were afraid of humans and being inside Melussa’s home at first. But Melissa showed them love, fed and cared for them. They came around!

Now they are HOME! They have complete run of Melissa’s house, every cat toy, cat comfort, the best of food and cat parents who couldn’t be happier with their cuties.

Not only did Melissa and her husband take in these two kittens, they helped me to trap and transport eight other cats in the neighborhood to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated and then to be re-released in the neighborhood, where they could be as healthy as possible and not reproduce, ending the cylce of that feral colony.

Feral cats usually live two or three years in outdoors, alone, exposed to whatever is out there: cars, poison, lack of food, sub zero temps – and die horrific deaths! When the cats came back after being “fixed” by the vet, Melissa hated the thought that they would be put out right away, so she made plans to keep them in her basement for a few days. That turned into a complete night-
mare. The cats (wild) were so freaked out they started jumping and breaking things. She said she could hear glass crashing down there! She and her husband went down to clean up the glass because they were afraid the cats would cut themselves and decided to let them run back outdoors through the bulk head door. They thought they had all run out until Melissa went downstairs a few days later and realized there was at least one or two cats still down there.

They let the bulk head open again, and finally the remaining cats made their way out. Melissa and husband Dan made a very lovely feral cat house for the cats – shelter, warmth – but the cats
have not used it yet, according to a neighbor who feeds them and allows they to hang out on their porch.

Hopefully, this colony of cats will figure it out and start to use it – especially now that the weather has turned bitter.

Melissa has already taken her two kittens to a wellness visit and has plans to have them spayed this month.

Daisy and Delilah hit the jackpot when they were welcomed into Melissa and Dan’s home and life!

Sometimes it does take a village to make good things happen! This couple and their neighbors cared enough to have the stray/wild cats in their neighborhood fixed so they will stop breeding. They set up housing for them and are committed to keeping the cats fed and watered.

Thanks to the Worcester Animal Rescue League (WARL) – they first got the phone call about the cats and then handed the kitty project over to Spay Worcester. Spay Worcester then asked for a volunteer to spearhead the round up.

And so the story goes…

NEW YORK—The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today commended Massachusetts legislators and Gov. Deval Patrick for enacting a measure to improve many of the commonwealth’s outdated laws governing animal control, potentially saving the lives of countless companion animals and protecting public safety. The new law will increase the availability of low-cost spay/neuter, ban gas chamber euthanasia, require animal control officers to receive training, allow pets to be included in court-issued orders of protection and improve Massachusetts’ dangerous dog law, as well as make other important updates to the existing animal control statutes.

“The new law provides a more effective system of animal control and protection to serve Massachusetts residents, while saving municipalities valuable resources in this uncertain economic climate,” said Bill Ketzer, senior director of ASPCA Government Relations for the Northeast region. “We thank Governor Patrick for signing this legislation into law and taking such a strong, life-saving step forward for Massachusetts animals.”

The new law updates a wide range of antiquated animal control statutes, some of which date back to the 19th century. Specifically, S.2192 will:

Create a statewide spay/neuter program to reduce the number of homeless animals in Massachusetts, thereby reducing the cost to cities and towns for sheltering these animals;

Outlaw the use of inhumane gas chambers to euthanize shelter animals;

Require animal control officers to have training, which will result in greater protection for citizens, increased licensing compliance and enforcement of dangerous dog laws;

Reduce dog bites by improving the dangerous dog laws to ensure they are effective and not breed-specific; and

Allow pets to be included in domestic violence protection orders, which helps protect both animals and people.

“Despite the comprehensive nature of this legislation, the measure also responsibly ensures that there are no costs borne by Massachusetts taxpayers in its implementation,” added Ketzer. “This is a landmark victory for animal welfare in Massachusetts and will improve the lives of countless pets and people.”