BCSP Report – Week 37
Bollinger County Stray Project Report September 12-18
Last week we accepted an 8-pound mother dog and her 7-week old litter. Pictured is Neptune, the only boy from the litter. They are ready for adoption this week. For more information, call Marilyn at 573-722-3035. See them on FB.
Thank you to Sue Brewer and Bill Teeters for helping with our flowerbeds Saturday September 10! They were in great need of green thumbs to shape up for next year. The dogs thoroughly enjoyed assisting and watching: great entertainment for them. I really appreciate their expertise and help!
There is much to be thankful for!
We are celebrating, even as we received tragic calls Monday about kittens and puppies in peril. The Sidewalk Angels Foundation, ran in part by Mari Thomas, wife of singer songwriter Rob Thomas, has sent us another grant check for $20,000!
This is our third grant gift from Sidewalk Angels Foundation (SWAF) in just three years. Our first grant was awarded in 2013 for $20,000 and our second matching grant was given 3/12/15.
Being chosen as one of their recipients is truly a humbling experience.
The Board of SWAF wrote that we had done a fine job with the funds and that we did a good job for our community and the animals in our care too.
The “good job we do” happens, in part, because the grant funds allow us to help “put the fires out”. We can forward financial assistance to low income and multiple pet owners who need the “baby makers” spayed.
We can talk until we are blue in the face, explaining why a spayed pet is a healthier pet, why a pet owner benefits from having a pet spayed, but if the owner is short on funds to pay for a spay…the result is usually an unwanted litter, or worse, a dumped female pet that is expecting a litter. Even worse: babies dumped without the means to survive.
SWAF understands how much we appreciate their efforts, how much our area needs that $20,000 to end the cycle of reproduction.
Monday, September 19, 2016, we authorized our first voucher to help with the spay costs of 3 kittens and their mother. The caller is low income and a multiple pet owner. The mother cat is expecting a second litter and if she is not too far along, the spay will happen this week along with three of her 5-month old daughters, who are also breeding age.
The average number of kittens per litter is around 5. That is four mom’s at 5 kittens by the end of the year or possibly an additional 20 kittens this year!
This cat owner also has three female kittens that are two months of age.
Next year, imagine half of the kittens born being females. The four adults will have at least 2.5 litters or possibly 40 – 50 plus kittens born from them in 2017. The three kittens that are currently age 2 months will be breeding age early 2017. They could have 15 kittens twice in 2017,or 30 more babies. The oldest litter could have kittens by year end so half of 15 kittens is at least 7additional cats to birth by 5 babies each or 35 additional kittens.
Adding the mother cats and the kittens, if all the kittens lived they could have as many as 150 by the end of 2017.
That is unrealistic however, for an outdoor kitten survival rate. Tom cats will kill some of them, even their own fathers and uncles will be head kittens. Some will be inbred and weak, dying at birth or later before weaned.
Others die when from respiratory disease, birds, snakes, or starvation.
Some others die soon after weaned when mom takes them out in the tall grass to abandon them and expect them to survive or die when trying to learn how to hunt.
Cats suffer the most and we humans pay less attention to their needs. Sadly some see less value in their cats, not wishing to spend the money on a spay.
So they continue to suffer.
Now, thanks to SWAF we have helped to reduce the suffering of kittens and unwanted puppies.
We are able to offer assistance of $50 per spay for the cats and dogs that are approved. Larger dogs may get more assistance. We also generally help with the rabies shot cost, but not always.
Three veterinary offices have agreed to offer discount vetting for pets accepted through the Grant Program. Those veterinary offices are the Bollinger County Veterinary Service (MH), Helping Hand’s Veterinary Clinic (Advance), and Tilsit Road Animal Clinic (Jackson).
To qualify for assistance you need to be low income, and or a multiple pet owner with several females needing a spay, currently in hardship such as between jobs or laid off, or a family currently in the military.
Many of the families we have helped in the past were retired and on a fixed income. Most were multiple pet owners, Many recipients had only one female pet, but they were low income and struggling. Only a handful of recipients last year had some form of hardship such as between jobs or a spouse was laid off. I recall one caller whose spouse was active in the military.
Spaying your pet is simple, not too expensive and is the logical thing to do for your pocketbook. Please consider the well-being of the mother and babies that were not born in a world where they started as unwanted.
Spay: it is the smart, logical, and the right thing to do. Thank you for caring.
Accepted strays and relinquished pets (Facebook) (3):
… Two Great Dane type stray pups found in a park near Twin Bridges: not claimed.
… 1-year old female black with white, bobbed tail: either a Catahoula or Boxer mix
Adoptions, return to owner or placed in other rescues (4):
… Dachshund male Pepper Jack, transferred to a Dachshund rescue
… Two Puxico kittens covered in ringworm, adopted by Dr. Liza Jones
… 2-wk old kitten, sibling was drowned, mom abandoned, adopted by Erika Jo Simmons!
Cat calls:
… Most days we are receiving multiple calls about cats with litters. Please, please spay your female cats.
Dogs with Heartworm (HW), Ehrlichia, special needs, or that were euthanized:
… Erhlichia: Most intakes in our county have a form of tic disease. Please consider the SERESTO Collar to repel as well as kill tics for exceptional protection.
Calls requesting assistance for dogs we did not admit:
… FOUND last week west Hwy 34 Co Rd 506 area, brindle fe pup, unsure breed type.
… FOUND early September, Hwy T, 2 miles from Hwy 91, near Advance: black long coated Terrier male, about 15-20 pounds.
… White /black Chihuahua mix male, unwanted. Marble Hill, age 1.
… Six or more small pups were seen one evening in the rain near the Chug-a-Lug bar down ZZ area of rural Glenn Allen, still at large.
… FOUND kitten with broken tail, covered with maggots, dumped in area of PP and FF
… FREE: 10 yr old Yellow Lab male, owner has to move, can’t take to rental property.
… LOST 8/26/16 Hwy 34 west of MH, Co Rd 808 and DD area: purebred male Boxer, fawn in color, wearing a collar with a rabies tag, also microchipped. Keeping a chipped dog is stealing.
Miscellaneous and contact info:
We had 45 dogs and pups at our home 9/19/16. If you have a stray camping out in the yard don’t wait, call us at 573-722-3035 or email photos at ace@clas. net.
We LOVE Buchheits! Donate a buck or more at the Jackson store for dog food and supplies when you shop. Also, Second Time Around in Marble Hill is taking donations for the Stray Project. Monetary donations are accepted at the Bollinger County Veterinary Service, Marble Hill Coop, Buchheits, and the MH Town and Country.
Stray Project monetary donations accepted at the Marble Hill Coop. We purchase de-wormer and other supplies at the Coop and donations are greatly appreciated.
Please be advised that the Bollinger County Stray Project is not the county or City of Marble Hill dog catcher. When you have a stray we try to help and can usually offer solutions. Patience is required of the caller towards our ability to find and implement a solution. I wish we had a magic wand but we don’t and can’t always help the callers in a manner they may demand of us. Remember, we are volunteers and help as time and space allows.
Offer a stray water on day one and food day two or three. Call if missing a dog or if you have a stray. We don’t always have room but we may have a solution to help you and the stray.
Dumping dogs is a form of abuse and against the law. Please report animal abuse or neglect.
Please do the following when your pets are expecting or caring for a litter: offer any pregnant dog small-breed-puppy-food the final 1-2 weeks before delivery and while the pups are nursing. Give those mothers all the food they want: bowls full all day and lots of fresh water available all day. Cats need kitten food. Free feed the higher calorie food during the nursing stage to help mom make milk and maintain her own body mass. Babies need to be de-wormed as young as 1-2 weeks, then every 7-10 days until age 10-weeks or older if in a confined environment with re-infestation concerns.
Thank you to the County Residents who have continued to support the Bollinger County Stray Project.
Check out our available pets at Petfinder. Call 573-722-3035 about our adoptable pets.
If you suspect an animal is being neglected or abused, call the Humane Society of Missouri Animal Cruelty Hotline, 314-647-4400 or 800-383-9835 or you can make a confidential report on line at Humane Society of Missouri.
To understand when an animal is being abused or neglected in the state of Missouri read the following link:http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cruelty/mo_cruel.htm
