Nelson SPCA feline assistant Carmin Torrance with some of the kittens that are up for adoption. Photo: Phillip Rollo.

SPCA over-run with cats and kittens

0
1780

The Nelson SPCA was already over-run with cats and kittens, and its resources are being stretched again after one man dropped off another 16 kittens to its Motueka site.

About once a year the Nelson SPCA puts a call out to the public to say they are over-run with felines. Currently there are 21 adult cats and 20 kittens up for adoption – while that number is still short of its record of 65 cats in 2010, resources are stretched to cope with the higher popular.

Feline assistant Carmin Torrance didn’t want to elaborate on the situation where a man dropped off 16 kittens he didn’t want, but says the Nelson SPCA was hopeful they could be brought over from Motueka once its current numbers had reduced. “Hopefully we can get some moving over the week. I’ve had some others wanting to drop some off but we’ve had to hold them off for another week,” she says. “Once every year [we reach our limit] and it’s generally in this period after Christmas time with people moving or going away but this is the second or third time this year we’ve had to put a call out.”

Nelson SPCA takes on unwanted cats even though some other SPCAs do not, because they are worried “what would happen to them if we didn’t?” says Carmin.

Carmin says pet owners need to take more responsibility and look for new potential owners before dropping them off at the SPCA as a last resort. “It just worries me that if we don’t take them then people will leave them and we’ll end up with them anyway.”

To help find new owners, Nelson SPCA is offering adult cats for half price at $50 while kittens can be adopted for $130.