Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Although you probably have realized by now that you can not change the world, but you can certainly change the world for an individual animal that has only you to depend on. May it be a family cat you have had for 10 years, or a scared little kitten you have just found on a street. You are the bridge between what was and what can be, you are their pathway to a new life of love and joy or a life of fear and abandonment. Their life, their happiness, their joy, their safety is in your hands alone - be the difference in their lives, change their world. Look them in the eyes and promise them you will protect them from ever having to experience fear and abandonment, suffering or unnecessary death.

Don't surrender - be the rescuer

Many people don't even think twice when they need to re-home their cat, or if they have found one, to bring it to a shelter or call a local rescue group for to find 'it' a new home. Shelters and rescues are absolutely over-whelmed (thats an understatement) with cats. We get hundreds of emails and voicemails each week with cats that need homes. It is so overwhelming that many rescues do not even open up that 'can of worms' and focus on rescuing dogs only, a more 'manageable' over-population.

Please also understand almost all private rescues are run entirely between full-times jobs, with no government subsidization. Rescue groups are just complied of one or more caring citizens who have stepped up to help shelters manage the over-population, sacrificing their evenings, weekends and every minute of their free time to help out a few of the many animals in need. They are financed through private donations, small fundraisers they have organized and more often than not out of their own pocket. Because of lack of available time, finances and physical space there is no way they can save each cat they get called for - or they would quickly acquire hundreds in a few weeks.

There is nothing separating a 'rescuer' from you other than that they have chosen to actively make a difference in the lives of a few animals at a time. Instead of brining the animal to a shelter, and sleeping well at night assuming they found a good home; a 'rescuer' brings them to a veterinary clinic for vaccines and sterilization, then finds them a good home themselves and sleeps well at night knowing that they have absolutely saved those lives.

Sure it is time-consuming, costs money and inconvenient - why make 'it' someone elses 'problem'? why not consider being the rescuer for these animals instead of taking the easy route and surrendering? Network between your friends, family members, co-workers, ask each person to ask one person they know if they could offer this animal a home (please makes sure the animal is spayed/neutered before or follow up closely after the adoption). Usually when individuals do this they can find homes in a few days to 1-4 weeks, the average adult cat or kitten in a shelter or rescue group takes 6-12 or more months to find a new home. You can be the one to make a difference in their lives, while letting the shelter and rescue groups focus on the thousands of other animals that need saving. If every individual choose to think twice before going to the closest shelter, and took on the task of being a responsible rescuer for the cats in question that they need to re-home or have found there would a tremendous amount of cats saved from having to experience fear and abandonment, suffering or unnecessary death.

If you think taking that found kitten to a shelter sets a good example for your children, take it a step further and teach them that they can be what makes a difference in these animals lives. Ask them to participate by asking their friends and school mates to ask their parents, or asking their teachers to ask the classroom and put up posters. Imagine what they could learn and the confidence they could gain by actively participating in saving these animals, it will also open them up to conversations and maybe even new friends at school or in the neighbourhood.

*If you do not personally know the person interested in adoption or found them online; Ask the new potential guardians for a personal reference that has known them for more than 5 years, if they are comfortable with a house-visit and to show a piece of identification with the adoption - if they refuse, then something is wrong a good adopter is open, honest and has nothing to hide.

** We will be posting a follow up article that will list step-by-step 'how to' and available resources including low-cost clinic for individuals who choose to be the rescuer.

The reality of the shelter system in Montreal

No matter how cute, adorable, fluffy, how good with kids they are or that they have the greenest eyes - the second you surrender your 'beloved' cat (family member) to a shelter it is at high risk of becoming a statistic of over-ppoplation euthanasia.

Surrendering your cat to a shelter should absolutely not even be an option, especially in this city. First of all, if you think your cat or dog is scared at the vet clinic trips or gets upset in car rides, imagine that fear and stress increased by a thousand times. Your cat will be thrown (not literally thrown, at least for most shelters) into a stainless steel cage, where they will be surrounded by animals equally as stressed, meowing, barking, and then randomly handled by strangers to be moved between cages or taken for a health checks and temperament evaluation. It's like being thrown in a jail cell - and having no idea what you did wrong? The worst part is in this jail, you are sentenced to an almost certain death without even having someone hear you, you are screaming at the top of your lungs but no one speaks your language or understands you.

In Montreal we are at a cat over-population crisis, shelters are bursting at the seems, and with that so are the freezers. The Concordian Online estimated in 2007 that Quebec had an astounding 1.6 million stray cats, this number has only increased enormously since. Hundreds of thousands of those ending up in shelters throughout the city, without even counting owner surrenders going through the shelters. To put it in population-perspective; lets say the average small shelter in Quebec has 20 cages to hold cats, they will get over 100 cats a week. Bigger shelter, the proportions are the same just an increase in numbers. There is no physical space to hold the number of cats going through the shelter system - which means they have to be euthanized to make space for next weeks worth of cats. If you think euthanizing the cats is wrong, would you be able to house and take care of 36, 000 cats (give or take a few hundred) at the end of the year? We'll if you can not, neither can they, lack of physical space aside it would be impossible to financially afford to feed them or spay and neuter everyone to prevent further over population, let alone that many cats under one roof would not be a good quality of life for them or anyone involved.

In Quebec the average 'pet-owner' keeps their pet for 2-3 years, do not be a statistic of abandonment and do not subject your pet to being a statistic of overpopulation euthanasia.

Although No-Kill is a wonderful idea; its needs to start with each individual making a conscious decision to not buy animals from breeders, pet-stores or online, and to spay/neuter. Until that day, animals in shelters will continue to be killed for space. Most importnantly, our government needs step up to this crisis and start making some much needed change (see below).

Talk about a backwards system; our government pays for-profit businesses that profit from over population, to do 'animal control'.

Most of you reading this are most likely already aware of 'the cat situation' in Quebec, but lets focus on the city you, me, your family and friends live in or grew up in. The city called Montreal known for is culture, diversity, street festivals, and vibrant life. Also well known, for how inefficiently our animal control system is run and animal abuse. The inhumane methods of 'euthanasia' Berger Blanc uses being a good example, many of you saw the documentary. Even worse is that most other pounds don't even attempt lethal injections but just suffocate the animals to death with home-made carbon monoxide chambers. For-profit pounds like Berger Blanc, SCDD, Saint Hubert, Inspector Cannin, continue to be sponsored by the government and sell animals with minimal veterinary care and unsterilized as ultimately pet-overpopulation is what their business is all about. If they put any steps forward to help reduce the over population, they are hurting their own business. The more the government chooses to use a for-profit pound structure, the more they are investing in ensuring we will always have a growing surplus of homeless animals, and ultimately will only cost the government more in the long run as for-profit pounds have no interest in reducing or solving pet-overpopulation - otherwise they would go bankrupt.

We are family

When you took on that kitten or cat a few years ago, you took on the responsibility of its life, for the rest of its life. Respect your cat or any pet with the same respect you would give a family member, you would not leave your infant behind because you are moving, have changes in life, have a new job, want to move across the country - sure holding on to the infant might be little 'inconvenient' for the next year while you establish yourself at your new job but that 1 year is nothing in comparison to the rest of your lives together. If you can not afford to move across the country with your child, you would wait until you can, what is stopping your from giving your 4 legged family member the same respect? Sure times can get tough like any normal family dynamic, finances can get tight, but they are your family so you figure it out and stick with them because at the end of the day thats what family does. Do not just dump them at a shelter, and sleep well at night thinking about the amazing fantasy home they have found. With these numbers for abandoned cats in Montreal - nothing will save them from the potential of being a euthanasia statistic.

Together - we can make a difference

Lets work together in this crisis, lets all step up to be the rescuers, be the ones setting a good example in this city and to our youth. Lets get our children, our schools, our work places involved in helping find homes for abandoned animals. Lets each do what we can do to help even if it is just a little, it will sure mean the whole world to the one or few animals whose lives you will change. Lets talk openly at work, at school, to strangers, in stores about how important it is to spay/neuter and adopt. Lets each open one persons eyes and mind every month or week, or day to the reality of pet-overpopulation and rewards of choosing to adopt and save a life. Together, we can make a difference.

Through adoption, sterilization, identification, and education, we hope to one day live in a community where homeless animals do not exist.