P.E.T. help needed

And that means ensuring cats are neutered if the pet owner doesn’t want to deal with a litter of kittens.

“When you acquire a pet it brings responsibilities,� says Shelley Hipson, a volunteer who has helped set up a subsidized neutering program named appropriately P.E.T. – Pet Emergency Team.

Operating on a volunteer basis under the motto “helping one animal at a time,� P.E.T. provides financial help to encourage pet owners to get their pet neutered.

At the same time Debbie Harvey is heading an attempt to bring the Beulah Burman Memorial Animal Shelter Society (BBMASS) back into operation.

The shelter, located on the Sandy Point Road just outside Shelburne opened in 2001 but shut down for lack of funding after operating for two years.

The situation with abandoned animals is so critical in Shelburne County that “if we were to open the shelter today we’d have 70 to 100 cats within three hours,� Harvey says.

Both women agree there is an overpopulation problem and that a strong neutering program is needed if the flow of abandoned animals is to be stemmed.

It’s a sad fact that out of every eight cats arriving at shelters in this province, seven end up being put down.

Hipson says she wants to create awareness to get pet owners to neuter their animals so the animal shelter will have fewer animals to deal with. “After all,’ she reasons, “who wants a slaughter house?�

The P.E.T. group has already dealt with a number of kittens, eight litters since April. Homes have been found for many of them, but some have been found long after abandonment and were put down due to disease.

“That’s a consequence of dumping, people being irresponsible and leaving them out in the winter,� Hipson says.

There was even a bizarre incident of someone dropping off a litter of five kittens at Roseway Hospital, perhaps thinking they would get proper care there. As of Thursday, four of those kittens have found a home.

The BBMASS group is in the process of developing a business plan to determine if reopening the shelter is financially viable. Municipal units in Shelburne County will be approached and the Queens County SPCA has expressed an interest, Harvey said.

She said the shelter would be interested in providing services to the municipalities on a fee for service basis.

It is estimated that it will cost in the area of $50,000 annually to operate a shelter.

Harvey says the group wants to develop a foster network to avoid having to put down animals and that so far 37 people have expressed an interest.

“Shelters can become a drop-off and killing zone, and nobody involved with this group really wants to bet into that business.�

Ultimately, it is up to individual pet owners. The women ask: Do you care enough to get your pet neutered if you are not prepared to deal with a litter of kittens or puppies?