Adoption Alternative

A cute pair: Juju, Aube’s pet rat, with a foster, Sputnik

Many animal lovers in this economy cannot afford to expand their four-legged families.  But Aube found a solution to that dilemma when she started volunteering with Fix Our Ferals in the fall of 2010 after reading one of the organization’s flyers.  Founded in 1998, Fix Our Ferals is a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit that focuses on Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), helping reduce the number of homeless and feral cats through their spay/neuter program.

A firm believer that a pet is a lifelong commitment, Aube decided to foster kittens until she felt better able to take on the financial responsibility of pet guardianship.  Fostering kittens has not only given her great joy but provided her with an education regarding the problem of pet overpopulation and the scarcity of good homes.  When Aube started fostering, friends and family warned the tender-hearted vegetarian that she would get too attached to give up her charges.  Instead, Aube located permanent homes for the first two cats she fostered. She has also orchestrated several subsequent adoptions. Aube also credits the Milo Foundation for allowing her to bring two kittens to one of their mobile adoptions.

Kittens who are rescued early enough can become good pets through intensive socialization.  Knowing the kittens are well socialized when they leave her care increases the odds they will find permanent homes.  To aid in this process, Aube routinely hosts “kitten parties,” inviting friends to come and interact with the felines. While sharing her flat with a constant stream of kittens (no more than two at any given time) has been great fun for Aube, she hopes for a day when TNR and spay/neuter programs negate the need for her services.  Whether they live on the street or land in a shelter, the lives of homeless and feral cats are too often cut short.  On the street, they are subject to illness, hunger, loneliness and abuse.  In shelters, they have little or no time to find new homes.

“Pet overpopulation is a problem we’ve created and it creates suffering.  Domestic animals are primarily suited to live with people so we need to limit their offspring to what’s maintainable for humans.”  Through her volunteerism, Aube proves that there are many ways to enjoy and care for animals without being a full-time guardian to one pet.  If you or someone you know loves animals but is not in a position to adopt, please consider fostering through a local shelter or a favorite rescue organization.

One Comment

1. 

   rose bauman
   December 11, 2012

   I am VERY disappointed seeing your photo that shows a “bottle baby” being fed ,and reading your article about “kitten parties” without an educational component about how to avoid having to feed underage kittens. Underage kittens are evidence that either a “rescue” happy public snatched them from under a bush or yard, in the belief that the mother “abandoned” them, which is not the case, except in rare instances where humans scared her off suffiently for her not to look for her kittens, or poor TNR skills and lack of information that underage kittens ALWAYS will trap the mother when either placed in a carrier, in front of which a trap is placed without food to trap their mother.A mother cat desperately looks and grieves for her kittens if they are “rescued” by us and she remains intact outdoor, only to produce more to the huge outdoor population.Kittens need their mother not only for nutrition, but for comfort and for teaching them to be cats. The stress from being separated from their mothers often results in kitten illness and death. When the mother cat is trapped, she and kittens are crated, requires some skills to transfer to crate, food, water , litter box and SHE will take care of her kittens! The kittens can be handled,mother becomes trusting, and when kittens are old enough they can be adopted, mother gets spayed and either released or a home for her if friendly. There is nothing “cute” about your diappointing story that is only one in millions that illustrates our obsession with “saving” kittens and ignoring the fact that their mothers will add more until she dies, and sadly, she was a kitten once too. Even shelters now are providing info.,not to “rescue” “abandoned” kittens but to evaluate the situation. No TNR group should have the need to bottle feed kittens because they should know the procedure to use kittens to trap her and let her feed them and SPAY HER and should provide education and assistance to the public. Could that be the reason that after two decades of TNR the outdoor cat population has increased and the pool of cats looking for homes is overflowing? Please FIXIT foundation, there are more meaningful articles for you to publish than one with a picture of a “bottle baby” like “No Kill” does!

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