Readers Write

It takes a village

Dear editor:
This couldn’t be truer than it is now. ARF works hard to educate the “village” as to pet care and the importance of spaying/neutering.

We all need to be responsible for our own dogs and cats, and we all need to help in curbing the annual kitten explosion. Sadly, ARF can’t do it all.

Just this past weekend, we found a crate left at the ARF House, and in the crate were three kittens.

This is not helpful as ARF is over-run with cats, not to mention that abandoning any animal is against the law. Our cattery is full. We have no room at the inn.

This creates an additional problem for ARF volunteers. We receive phone calls and emails nearly every day from people who want us to take in more and more cats/kittens. Again, we have no room.

ARF was founded over 29 years ago to take in pets from those in a bad situation. We have cats (and we’ve taken in hundreds of dogs) from people who have passed, have become homeless or are in a very bad home situation. We were never meant to become a shelter or offer the same services as animal control.

We do raise funds to help families with veterinary costs for their beloved pets. We do offer pet food for those in need. We do offer low-cost vaccination and nail trim clinics as a convenience for locals. We do offer pet parent education. We do help with homeless animals when we are able.

But we need the village to help.

Please spay/neuter your dogs and cats. Please let financially strapped neighbors know that ARF is here to help. Consider grabbing that neighborhood cat or trapping that feral cat and getting it altered, then simply release it back into the neighborhood, or if the cat is friendly, maybe you could make it your own.

Please help us help the village. We are doing our best, but we cannot do it alone.

Janice Murasko
ARF Director of Operations