Do your part... adopt a homeless kitty today!

Last week, the Democrat-Herald and Gazette-Times published an article about the dismantling of Camp Boondoggle, a homeless encampment in Albany. The camp has been in existence for about 40 years, but the city council decided it was time for the remaining residents to move on and posted eviction notices a few weeks ago.

The article last week focused on the work of Jody Harmon, a 50-year-old survivor from Southern Oregon, who invests a huge amount of time and money into the thankless work of trapping and fixing feral cats. By her estimate, she has trapped thousands... 200 at one grass seed warehouse alone.

Ms. Harmon went to Camp Boondoggle last week and helped rescue 11 cats that were living at the camp. There are about 20 remaining, and she plans to go back to pick up the rest that are left behind when the tenants move on. Despite the GT's editorial page claim that the pets were all available for adoption through SafeHaven Humane Society, a no-kill shelter in Albany, the shelter was mostly full and only accepted two of the cats. The other nine went home with Ms. Harmon. Two have since been adopted, but she has picked up a few more since then, and several still need good homes. The cats can be seen at Ms. Harmon's Petfinder site.

Local animal shelters are always filled to capacity, so Ms. Harmon's task of lowering the feral cat population is a daunting one. It also costs a good deal of money. The GT directed donations to SafeHaven, despite the fact that most of the cats in the article are being cared for by Ms. Harmon, who manages to care for these cats, including having them spayed or neutered, on a shoestring budget. Hearing this, Heartland Humane Society offered to fix a few of the cats for free, but there is still a need for more assistance.

So, what can you do? Well... do you have room for another cat? Can you spare a few dollars towards Ms. Harmon's cause? Alternatively, could you offer to pay to fix one cat (POPPA, Inc, a local non-profit, provides low-cost spaying and neutering for local residents), provide a month's supply of cat food, or buy a couple boxes of Advantage flea control? If you can, please contact Jody Harmon at bluestray@yahoo.com.

Also, if you currently have pets of your own, get them fixed! It is completely irresponsible to breed your pets, intentionally or not, when there are thousands who need homes already. Too many idiotic college students adopt cute kittens and then abandon them when they move. Too many people are also still supporting backyard breeders, but that's another blog entry by itself.