SNAN Seeks Help In Its Service To Homeless Pets

By Kaaren Valenta

John Stott believes he finally has the cat population under control at his home in Sandy Hook.

For years he and his wife, Shirley, were feeding more than a dozen abandoned and feral cats that showed up each night for handouts. Many may have been dumped along Route 34 by owners who no longer wanted them; others, apparently born in the wild, learned where they could scavenge for food.

After his wife died, Mr Stott continued alone, raising several litters of abandoned kittens and eventually finding homes for all of them. Finally, he turned to the Spay and Neuter Association of Newtown (SNAN) for help.

SNAN member Ingrid Meier adopted her long-haired cat, Ernie, two years ago when it was abandoned behind the dental office of Dr Richard Goodman on South Main Street.

“Someone dropped it, and after four days we tried to catch it,” Ms Meier said. “We took it to Dr Vargoshe of the Woodbury Animal Clinic to get shots, neutered, and its tail fixed. I had just lost my cat so I decided to adopt it.”

Ernie wasn’t the first cat to be abandoned behind Dr Goodman’s office, according to SNAN member Marion Thompson.

“Dr Goodman adopted the first one but he knew he couldn’t bring another cat home,” Mrs Thompson said.

The problem of abandoned animals, especially cats, keeps SNAN busy year-round.

“More than 15 million homeless or abandoned dogs and cats are euthanized in this country every year,” SNAN President Donna Safee said. “In Connecticut alone there are 20,000 animals in shelters yearly, and only one in five find homes.”

Newtown’s animal control officers are responsible for abandoned and stray dogs, but they don’t handle cats and there are no facilities for felines at the dog pound, leaving volunteer groups like SNAN scrambling to solve the problem of abandoned and feral cats and kittens.

“There have been a lot of kittens dropped off at various places in the past few weeks,” Marion Thompson said. “It’s not just one kitten – it’s usually a litter. Just imagine finding four kittens on your doorstep.”

“A woman called me because she had kittens living under her dryer vent. She managed to find homes for them but we’re still trying to catch the mother cat. We have someone who will catch feral cats – a woman who lives in Huntington – and will take them to the vet,” Mrs Thompson said. “We pay to spay and neuter them and for rabies shots, then they are released back into the wild where they were caught. But it has to be a feral cat [to be released]. And she only traps feral cats, not kittens.”

“There are so many feral cats this time of year – it’s unbelievable,” said Janet Decker, who with Marion Thompson handles calls to SNAN’s telephone hotline.

SNAN isn’t in the business of finding homes for these animals, but the organization does what it can, Mrs Safee said. Sometimes a local pet store will try to help place kittens, as long as they have already been given the required inoculations, and SNAN will provide those as well. The organization doesn’t shelter animals; rather, it cooperates with volunteer groups from other towns including New Leash on Life, Animal Angels, MEOW, and Animals for Life that try to find homes for unwanted animals.

SNAN was organized in 1982 to assist with the spaying of neutering of cats and dogs, to reduce the number of unwanted animals in the community. The organization works with only three veterinarians – none in Newtown – who have agreed to provide spay and neuter services at a reduced cost.

“Since 1982, we have assisted with spaying and neutering more than 5,000 cats and dogs,” Mrs Safee said. “We spend, on average, about $1,000 a month.”

Because SNAN is a volunteer organization, the group looks for donations to offset the cost of providing its services. For the past two years, costs were largely offset by a bequest, but the organization needs members and money to be assured of being able to continue its mission.

This week SNAN members and friends assembled in the back room of My Place restaurant to stuff more than 10,500 envelopes for a townwide mailing to seek members and donations.

“We have 33 members but only about 10 are active,” Mrs Safee said. “We have a telephone line – 426-5730 – so people can call when they need our help. Our volunteers take the messages that are left on the answering machine, call the people back, and try to help them.”

When many hands help, it’s not a lot of work, Mrs Safee said. “If you can give an hour a month, even five minutes a month, it will help.”

Membership in SNAN is $10; $5 for senior citizens. The organization meets on the third Friday of each month from September to May at 10 am in the lower meeting room at Edmond Town Hall.

John Stott joined SNAN in the middle of his cat population problem. The organization arranged to provide Have-a-Heart traps so Mr Stott could catch the cats and have them spayed and neutered.

“I am feeding six cats now, down from 14,” he said. “It’s sort of a love-hate relationship because I am allergic to cats. But since all were neutered, there isn’t any more fighting. It’s really quite peaceful. Before they were neutered, they would wake me up with their screaming in the night and in the morning some of them would be all cut up and bleeding from fighting.”

Two of the cats disappeared recently. “I hope they found a better home, but there are coyotes in our area,” Mr Stott said. “People should think about that before they abandon animals.”