Thank you very much for Tracey Duguay's
article Don't you want somebody to love? about the Greater
Sudbury Animal Shelter in Azilda (
www.gsshelter.ca
).
I agree there are many friendly, healthy
animals at GSAS that would make excellent companions.
The website offered by GSAS is very thorough
showing a picture and description of found pets plus those up
for adoption. Owners can also send a picture of their lost pet
and a description and this information will be posted
too.
Don't worry if you don't use e-mail. You can
simply phone 673-6010 or visit the shelter during their office
hours at 411 St. Agnes St. W. in Azilda.
Pet ownership is not cheap. There are many
costs to factor in and pets can live well for 10 to 20
years.
But there are many benefits too. If the cost
of pet ownership is not within your budget or if you are a
"snowbird," you can still enjoy animal companionship by
becoming a foster family. You get all the benefits of pet
companionship and the shelter assumes the liabilities.
There are no lack of studies to show that the
presence of an animal companion such as a cat or dog can do
amazing things.
Out of curiosity, I did a web search to find
out what other animal shelters in the province of Ontario
charge for adoption prices for cats and dogs. Cats with a
spay/neuter/vaccination package run about $150 to $175 plus
taxes; dogs with a spay/neuter/vaccination package run about
$200 to $250. Greater Sudbury Animal Shelter compares
favourably with cats at $150 and dogs at $190.
There are two patterns across the province,
however, which concern me. One is that very often puppies and
kittens are the same price as the adults with the result that
the adults get left behind.
The other is that pets that have been already
altered (often owner surrendered) are often less expensive that
those
that have not been. These cats are only $50,
dogs are $75 to $100 across the province. This large difference
in price means that the abandoned-but-friendly-and-healthy can
end up euthanised.
I would love to see a charitable organization
or foundation run parallel to GSAS that would help pay for the
spays/neuters of the abandoned adult pets. This would bring
their prices down to those of their altered fellow shelter
mates, and ensure that their chance of being adopted is very
good.
Jan Carrie Steven
Sudbury