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| Friday, July 25, 2008 |  |
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With hundreds of animals in need of a home, and scarcely any place to put them, the Toronto Humane Society is urging anyone thinking about getting a pet to adopt one now. It is a call that should be heeded. Dogs, cats and other creatures would have a second chance at a good life while providing Torontonians with a good pet. The holiday season is always a hectic time at the Humane Society, but this year is one of the busiest in decades. There appear to be more homeless animals on the streets. One reason is that warmer weather has extended the breeding season of feral cats, resulting in more kittens being born. Crowding has been so great that in mid-December, staff at the River St. shelter took the rare step of taping a note to their door urging people hoping to drop off a cat to keep their feline a while longer. To make matters worse, the days following Christmas usually produce an influx of unwanted animals that were foolishly given as presents to people in no position to care for them. As a result, Humane Society officials are frantically trying to find a home for the creatures already in their care. "We are desperate, desperate," Tim Trow, the society's volunteer president, said in a recent interview, adding this was the busiest holiday period he had ever seen. The Humane Society managed to find a home for almost 700 animals during last year's holiday-season adoption blitz and it needs to do as well, or better, this year. The shelter manages to place about 8,000 of the 10,000 animals it receives annually. In the proper environment, with people who are able and willing to care for them, pets can thrive and bring joy to others. For those in a position to adopt a creature in need, now is the best time to act.
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