During the Open House, tours of the facility will be given. There will also be door prizes, refreshments, and tons of happy animals to meet.

If you bring an item from the shelter’s Wish List, you’ll get an extra door prize raffle ticket.

To read more about the Open House and see the Wish List, click on the newsletter page below:

To read “Bites from the Director,” Betty Peyton, and print out a “Membership Form,” click on the newsletter page below:

The entire February newsletter can be opened by clicking below:

February 2012

I wanted to update everyone on the situation in Canton with the feral cats that are being captured and then killed at the Stark County Humane Society. Fellow trapper and Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) advocate, Tobin Franks (who first alerted me to the issue), sent me a follow up email below. Alley Cat Allies has gotten involved in this fight for the cats, but they still need you to keep signing the petition and calling and emailing the Canton Council members.

If you can also attend the next Council meeting, it will be Monday, February 6, at 7:30 pm in the Canton City Hall, 218 Cleveland Avenue SW.

The cats in the photo above are from one of our TNR clinics. They were released, not killed. TNR works!

From Tobin: Thank you everyone who came to the City Council Meeting & all who called and sent emails to Canton Officials!

ALLEY CAT ALLIES PRESS RELEASE:
http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=1123

CANTON REP ARTICLE:
http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x370660645/Canton-Council-urged-to-be-more-humane-with-cats

As you have seen in the paper, read on Facebook & heard on the radio - we are off to a good start, but the City of Canton is still considering the renewal of the city’s contract with Phil Sedlacko for ‘animal control’ services. Phil rounds up cats & kittens and takes them to the Stark County Humane Society. After years of denial, Stark HS Executive Director Louis Criswell has finally admitted that feral cats brought in by Phil are killed.

Sedlacko is to be paid $27,129.00 for this part-time “animal control” service – in addition to his regular full time job as a deputy Dog Warden.

Cats in Canton still need your help. Please come to the next meeting & bring your SAVE THIS CAT posters (click on any of them in this posting to enlarge and print). There will be a THIRD reading of the proposed contract renewal at this meeting. If you wish to speak please get their early & sign in. Remember they only give you 3 minutes. We especially need people to speak who have has personal,1st hand experience with Phil Sedlacko.

If you cannot make the meeting -  PLEASE keep calling & emailing Council. Tell them there is a better way!

The Next Meeting is: Monday Feb 6 2012 – 7:30 pm

The Humane Society of Madison County (HSMC) is finally in their new expanded building located at 2020 State Route 142 NE, just off of I-70 at the Plain City exit. The new shelter has a West Jefferson address, but is only about 5-10 minutes outside of Plain City.

An article in The Madison Press gave some good PR to the shelter. You can read that HERE.

And there was also a nice story in the Columbus Messenger. Read that HERE.

The shelter does not have a permanent phone number yet. If you need to reach them currently, call 614-359-7560.

The Canton, Ohio City Council is currently deciding whether to grant a one-year “professional-services contract not to exceed $27,129 for animal control services” with Philip Sedlacko, who has filled that position in the past. The contract would run from February 1 through January 31, 2013. Included in “animal control services” is the trapping and killing of stray and feral cats in an endless cycle that does nothing to stop the feline overpopulation problem. Tiny kittens will be separated from their moms. Colony members will be removed from their homes and families and sent to die. And, sadly, nothing will be accomplished except needless killing.

Read the article about the animal control ordinance HERE.

Canton City Council will be meeting on Monday, January 30 at 7:30 pm about this issue. The meeting will be held in the Council Chamber at City Hall at 218 Cleveland Avenue S.W. If you wish to speak at the meeting, you must go early and sign in with the clerk.

The cats need us to speak up for them, as they cannot make their voices heard without us.

Alley Cat Allies, the largest group nationwide fighting to save feral cats, has produced a public service announcement to let people know that local governments are killing cats to reduce their numbers. Watch that YouTube video HERE.

In one of many articles on their web site, Alley Cat Allies explains why Trap and Kill does not work. When you remove one set of cats, more move into the area as resources become available. This phenomenon, known as “The Vacuum Effect,” has been documented in numerous scientific studies. The population quickly rebounds leading to the necessity for more killing. And on and on and on.

The only true solution is trap-neuter-return (TNR). This method humanely traps the cats, sterilizes them so no new kittens will be born in the colony, and then releases them back into their territory where they were originally trapped.

Additionally, while the killing of feral cats may seem legal since it is being carried out by local governments, feral cats are covered under anti-cruelty laws in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

To write, email, or call the Canton City Council members and ask them to stop the killing and find a better solution, please go HERE.

A petition has also been started to put pressure on the Council members to find a more humane way to help the cats.

Sign the petition by going HERE.

Below is a copy of the report that is filled out each month by the animal control department in Canton. This report is for the month of May 2011. If you click on it, you can see that 46 cats and 20 kittens were trapped and, therefore, killed during that month.

Secondly, another good friend to kitties and a former B and O foster, Linda Stanek, has started a new business called Ari’s Garden, which creates puzzle books and other creative items for children and adults. Linda had asked me a few months ago if I could send her photos of feral kitties for a puzzle book she wanted to do to teach kids about Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Several of our supporters and fosters emailed her pictures, so I will be excited to see which photos turn up in the book. Linda blogged about the book, which will be released soon, on National Feral Cat Day in October. The kitty on the front of the book is one of her own feral boys! I’ll keep you posted about this book as it becomes available for sale. I am so excited.

And also check out Linda’s cat drawings and her blog posting on “The Illustration Process.” I knew Linda could write, but I didn’t know what a fabulous illustrator she was, as well.

Next up are some fabulous spay and neuter deals.

One of a Kind Pet Spay and Neuter Clinic in the Akron area (please let your friends up North know about this) will be offering a “Beat the Heat” deal for the month of February. Cat Spays will be $20 for the entire month. For more info call 330-865-6890.

SOS of Ohio (Shelter Outreach Services) will also be doing a “Beat the Heat” event for the month of February. Cat spays are $20 with them, as well, and they are located right here in Columbus at 691 E. Dublin Granville Road.

In addition to their Beat the Heat event, SOS is also offering “Luv-A-Bull” for Spay Day 2012, which falls on February 28th. For owners of pit bulls who can show they are on government or other financial assistance, SOS will spay and neuter their pit bull or pit bull mix for $30!

Finally, only 361 more signatures are needed to get the Ohio Dog Auctions Act on the 2012 ballot for voters. This act will ask Ohio residents to ban dog auctions in the state. The final 361 signatures must delivered to the Secretary of State by January 20 so your signatures must be turned in by January 17 to Mary O’Connor Shaver (347 Meadow Ash Drive, Lewis Center, Ohio 43035).

To download a copy of the Ohio Dog Auctions Act and pages for gathering signatures, go HERE.

For instructions on gathering signatures and how to help, go HERE.

Remember, only 361 signatures are needed by January 20!!

I recently learned of a rescue group, His Hands Extended Sanctuary, in Saint Paris, Ohio, which is located in Champaign County, that is offering low cost spay and neuter surgeries for both dogs and cats to the general public, as well as rescues and shelters. The clinics, which just got started this past October, also provide vaccines at affordable prices. Additionally, they give a ten percent discount to seniors, active military, and to people getting multiple animals fixed (over three).

Cat spays are $40. Cat neuters are $20. Surgeries for dogs range in prices based on weight. For dogs over 101 pounds, the price for a spay is $105 and for a neuter is $95–and those are the most expensive prices. Dogs smaller than 101 pounds get smaller prices for their surgeries!

To see a complete price list and read how to schedule for the Wednesday clinics, go HERE.

For a long time now, I’ve not had any resources for those people B and O was helping in Champaign County. I also never had many resources for people looking for low cost services for dogs. Now I have both! And I am so happy about this. The clinics at His Hands Extended are close enough for people in surrounding counties, including here in Madison and Union counties (it was about a 30-35 minute drive from Plain City to the sanctuary which is outside of Saint Paris).

I first learned about Tanya Jordan and His Hands Extended Sanctuary when she donated food to us for our Pet Food Pantry. My mom and dad went to pick up the food and were so impressed with her set up that they couldn’t stop talking about it. Equipped with many buildings for the dogs and cats who live at the sanctuary, the organization adopts animals into loving families, while providing a lifelong home for those that are never adopted.

I hope to make a trip myself to Tanya’s facilities in the near future and find out how she runs her clinics. There can never be too many low cost surgery options for the dogs and cats (and their care givers) in our rural areas. I am glad to know about one more!

National Bird Day celebrates birds, while at the same time trying to educate the public about the plight of parrots and songbirds who face extinction at the hands of habitat loss, disease, and the illegal bird trade. Additionally, National Bird Day, which is hosted by Born Free USA and The Avian Welfare Coalition, hopes to improve the welfare of those birds that are kept in captivity and to stop pet stores from selling birds (often to uneducated people who do not know how to care for them).

National Bird Day, which is in its 10th year, also asks home owners to take action and prevent bird deaths through window collisions. In a nice article, “10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Bird vs. Window Collisions,” you can learn how to lessen the 1 billion bird deaths that occur each year in North America from confused birds hitting glass windows.

If you make your windows bird friendly for National Bird Day, you can enter the 2012 Photo Contest. Just send a picture of your bird protected windows before February 1, 2012 and you could win a pair of binoculars. Details for the contest are provided HERE.

Through increased awareness and education, perhaps some day, we will live in a world where people truly “think outside of the cage” and all birds fly free.

Our beloved vet friend, Dr. Kim West, has been volunteering at the Humane Society of Delaware County learning new spay and neuter techniques and assisting Dr. Melanie deHaan from SOS of Ohio, who also volunteers at the shelter. Dr. West has seen a lot of things since she’s been going up to the shelter over the past few months. The most heart breaking, by far, however, was the cat that came in on December 22 with an arrow through her body.

Dr. West did emergency surgery to remove the arrow. She called OSU to get assistance as she performed the delicate procedure. The metal arrow was completely through the cat’s body. Not only that, but Dr. West said it had been there for at least a week. It was an old injury. The poor cat had somehow been surviving with it in her body.

Because she was worried about infection, Dr. West took the kitty home with her to recover. The one-year-old tiger, tabby female was named “Sparrow,” because she was “spared the arrow.” She is now doing very well and Dr. West thinks she can be adopted into her forever home.

I cannot understand how anyone could do this to a cat or any defenseless animal. Dr. West said it was not an accident, but appeared to have been done intentionally. It truly makes me sick to my stomach.

When I searched for the 10TV news stories about Dr. West’s kitty online, I found several disturbing stories about cats being shot with arrows in Crawford County. A cat was found on Christmas Eve with an arrow through the head. She also is expected to live. There have been five such cases in the Galion area since July. You can read the full story HERE.

A teenage boy has since been identified for shooting the cat in the head and will face charges of animal cruelty. You can read that HERE and HERE.

Sparrow’s assailant is still out there, however, and no charges have been filed in her case.

Miss Sparrow continues to make a full recovery at home with Dr. West. If you are interested in adopting Sparrow, please contact us or go ahead and fill out one of our adoption applications on our web site, www.bandocats.org under “How you can help” and “Adopt.” Once you have been approved, we’ll put you in contact with Dr. West so you can meet lovely, little Sparrow, who is super, super sweet (and young). This kitty will be going to a forever home where she will never, ever be in danger again! You can count on that.

Watch the video of Dr. West on 10TV HERE.

Read the 10TV follow up story HERE.