Earlier this month I started getting emails from animal lovers saying, \u201cDid you know that the Oakland city shelter is going to start euthanizing dogs because they\u2019re running out of room?\u201d So I checked it out and called Joe DeVries, the new director of Oakland Animal Services. Relax, folks. No one\u2019s going to be killing anything.<\/p>\n
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Despite a successful recent adoption weekend, Oakland Animal Services still has dozens of dogs available for adoption, such as Baldwin above. For information about him, visit oaklandanimalservices.org\/adopt\/dogs. (photo courtesy of Oakland Animal Services)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a huge influx of dogs at the beginning of the year. We had 105 dogs come through in 12 days, and we were well over capacity, particularly for big dogs,\u201d he explained. \u201cOur shelter capacity is about 65, and we were about 90, and that doesn\u2019t even include the dogs we have in our foster program.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo our social media team put out an urgent call-out saying we had a number of dogs facing instant euthanasia if we didn\u2019t get our numbers under control,\u201d DeVries said. \u201cTwo local news stations picked up the story, and that led to an amazing adoption weekend! We adopted out 39 dogs and also had 27 transferred to rescue organizations, and that brought us back down to a safe level so none of these dogs are at risk now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have 60 big dogs in our shelter who still need a home and 80 more dogs in foster care that also need a home. We want to thank Oakland for coming through and encourage people to keep looking to us if they need a dog. All the dogs we offer have been vaccinated and spayed or neutered, and our adoption fees are extremely low, just $20 out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the good news. The bad news is that it\u2019s almost springtime, and you know what that means: kitten season. All unspayed female cats are pregnant or about to be. This includes the outdoor stray or feral you are feeding and your own female house cat who sometimes goes outside. It will continue through summer and fall.<\/p>\n
The gestation period is nine weeks, so you may start seeing babies any time now. If you don\u2019t see kittens, don\u2019t assume there aren\u2019t any out there. They will leave the nest and follow Mom when they\u2019re about six weeks old.<\/p>\n
However, help is a phone call away. Search online for \u201ccat rescue groups\u201d or \u201clow cost spay\/neuter,\u201d followed by the name of your city, or call your local animal shelter or rescue group. Call more than one group, and call more than once. Most only ask for a small donation. It\u2019s so much easier and more economical to spay one cat, as opposed to an entire litter of up to six.<\/p>\n
So why bother? Because for every kitten not born, that\u2019s one more cat not in danger of being euthanized at a shelter \u2014 not to mention the hunger, diseases, starvation and accidents that befall homeless cats. Be on the lookout for any cat you\u2019re feeding or happen to see.<\/p>\n
Do the right thing and make that call. If you own a cat that you can\u2019t keep, please don\u2019t think you\u2019re doing it a favor by dumping it in a nearby cat colony to save it from being euthanized in a shelter. For one thing, responsible shelters move heaven and earth to avoid euthanasia. Oakland Animal Services, for instance, has one of the lowest euthanasia rates in the state. For online information, visit oaklandanimalservices.org\/adopt<\/a>.<\/p>\n For another, studies show that the maximum life span for a homeless cat is two years, tops, and it\u2019s even shorter for former house cats that suddenly find themselves outside, where they are easy prey for hawks, owls, falcons, coyotes and the most dangerous animal of all \u2014 us.<\/p>\n That accords with my own experience feeding the ferals in my neighborhood. I started out with four, but as word got out that there was a soft touch living on my block (me), it soon mushroomed to two dozen. Then they started disappearing one-by-one until they were all gone. That\u2019s the reason why I never let my cat Betty go outside, much as she\u2019d love to.<\/p>\n Finally, in much happier news, let me add my voice to all those who are still dazzled by watching the East Bay\u2019s own Alysa Liu win figure skating gold at the Winter Olympics. Boy, did we need that! Her strength, daring, artistry and sheer joy almost make up for Oaktown losing the A\u2019s, Raiders and Warriors. To quote my former editor Craig Lazzaretti, \u201cWe should throw her a parade around Lake Merritt and end this fairy tale at Fairyland!\u201d<\/p>\n