I agree, especially one that comes from a home where the owner is willing to drive it 10 hours.

I am delivering a foster bunch that I just had neutered through a Portland group to the hinterlands of eastern Oregon (escaping some of the hoohah associated with the 100th anniversary of the Pendleton Round-Up). To see if there is still room on that grant for foundlings and other needy kitties, call Claudia at (503) 254-0766.

Great Free Kitties! As long as people let them breed indiscriminately we will never have a shortage. Free kitties become feral cats.

Kitties, free or otherwise, that are spayed and neutered and go to good homes do not become feral cats.

Money, I think is not really the issue; caring about the cats we encounter is more on point, I think.

If we work equallly hard at neutering and caring for ferals, strays and pets, we can solve the problem.
Cats can create nuisance conditions but a cat is not synonomous with a nuisance. We have years of animal control policies and practices that presume a cat is a nuisance abateable at the whim of the state, an obstacle that those practicing more humane cat control methods (spay and neuter, Trap-Neuter-Release for ferals) are having to confront.

Check out the Oregon Humane Society's cat "Spay and Save" program to control the cat populations in the Portland-Metro area. This program will work! OHS has done the job on dogs so successfully that they now import dogs for adoption from many other areas.

Spay and Save, if I am not mistaken is the effort of the Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland, which includes OHS.

As you may already know, the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon runs one of two free-standing feral cat neutering clinics in the US. Lots of animal lovers here supporting good programs.

There is a big market for little dogs, but bigs dogs and cats still don't fare so well. Historically, animal control organizations have worked for the squeaky wheels who don't want animals around. The trick is to come up with programs that err on the side of life for animals while preventing them from becoming nuisances. One thing that could help save the lives of cats right now is if the Multnomah County Commissioners would conduct the audit of the shelter system animal lovers have been requesting for years. Then we would know where to start. As it stands now, the county has anti-cat ordinances such as one that permits neighbors to take 'trespassing cats to the pound without notice to owners. It also has a longstanding association with animal use groups. Spay/neuter is extremely important, but not the only issue affecting cats and cat owners.