City’s Free Spay, Neuter Program Worthwhile

Baby was 5 weeks old and starving when we found her on our patio one morning. You could tell by looking that she had a serious congenital problem. She weighed a mere 6 ounces when we began to feed her around the clock.

Once she was up to 8 ounces, Dr. Theodore Becker of Audubon Veterinary Clinic operated. Today, Baby is a beautiful, healthy 5-pound, 4-ounce calico.

To those of us who rescue strays, the results aren’t always so gratifying.

My husband and I have seen many heart-wrenching situations: a mother cat with three kittens, one dragging its hind legs, its tail gone, after being hit by a car; a stray female with one kitten still stuck in the birth canal while two others nursed; young Dottie, her kidneys destroyed from drinking antifreeze.

Too often nothing can be done to help. And it is all the more tragic because it is so unnecessary.

Local animal shelters overflow with free kittens. So many will wind up as strays, breeding unwanted alley babies and dying untimely, often hideous deaths.

Most people don’t realize that female kittens can breed as early as 5 months of age, that males can be neutered between 6 and 9 months of age, that spaying or neutering is a simple, one-day process.

Last year, Spokane voters gave us the tools to end the stray cycle with a free spay and neuter plan. It provided $100,000 worth of free spaying/ neutering certificates through SpokAnimal C.A.R.E.

This program put Spokane in an elite group of cities nationwide providing a free, easy and humane answer to the problem of unwanted pets.

But that $100,000 is almost gone. SpokAnimal will stop issuing the certificates Thursday while it calculates how much, if any, of the money remains. When the money runs out, so will the program.

Something that is working so beautifully needs to be continued. Please call the Spokane City Council at 625-6255 and urge it to reauthorize this worthwhile program.

Thursday, when Baby curls up beside me on the sofa and purrs while I stroke her fur, I’ll be wondering how we can persuade people that it’s not enough to save these stray kittens. There’s no need for them to be here at all.

MEMO: “Your turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.