Village Pets - Montgomery Drive

[Malene]

Hello,


Village Pets on Montgomery Drive in Rincon Valley are currently allowing unfixed kittens to be sold for profit through their store.

This really gets me up in arms - so let me remind everyone why it is such a bad thing.

Each year millions of cats are put to sleep in this country - and many thousands of cats are put to sleep in California. In Sonoma county we have as big a feral cat population as anywhere, and cats are put to sleep in shelters when they get overcrowded. This means cats being put to sleep, or living very rough lives because we humans arent doing the right thing.

Shelters work incredibly hard to rescue cats, and to limit the cat population. When you adopt a cat through a shelter it will ALWAYS be fixed - because the shelters do not want cats out there accidentally breeding. They dont want to kill another few hundred (or thousand) cats in the next couple of years. And dont kid yourselves - cats are extremely prolific breeders.

When you adopt through a shelter you support their work through the adoption fee. This means more cats can be adopted, the cat population will be more limited, and very importantly the cat you take home is most likely healthy and definitely fixed. You also at least know for sure the cat has seen a vet.

Further more the shelters screen would-be adopters to make sure the cats get a good home, instead of relying on an emotional gut reaction of someone coming through the store, seeing this cute fuzz ball kitten and buying it on the spot.

Selling kittens as a profit endeavor - and not making sure those kittens are fixed before sending them out the door is extremely irresponsible and shows an incredible lack of respect or caring for the animals in their care.

I called Village Pets myself to verify this practice and they said yes they do it - because the kittens are too small to be fixed. This in essence means the kittens are quite likely also too young to be taken away from their mothers. Toda vets can fix kittens as long as they weigh 24 ounces.

I hope all of you will get cats from shelters or rescue organizations. I hope some of you will join me in boy-cutting Village Pets on Montgomery Drive - ohh, and help me spread the word - that store ought to not be in business.

Respectable pet stores and pet supply stores will have agreements with local shelters to help them adopt out cats and dogs. Not sell them for profit.

Shame, SHAME, SHAME on Village Pets in Montgomery Village for damaging the cat population. SHAME!

Maybe some of you will join me in calling them and letting them know what they are doing is WRONG. Their phone number is 539-7142

Thanks,
Malene

[Malene]

I put together a little letter to Village Pets on Montgomery Drive.

Maybe some of you will join me in sending it or a similar letter the Village Pets.

Their address is:

Village Pets & Supply
4213 Montgomery Drive
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
707-539-7142

Village Pets,

The information is making its way through the community that you are selling UNFIXED kittens in your store.

Each year millions of cats and kittens are put to sleep in the US due to overpopulation of cats, and irresponsible actions by breeders and sellers. Even more millions of cats live a rough life as feral cats. Sonoma County has as big a population of cats needing shelter and rescue as any other place in the US. These cats needs rescuing because humans has not been responsible in making sure the cats are fixed and cared for.

Sonoma County has multiple wonderful shelters working extremely hard to limit the cat population through spay / neuter programs, thoroughly interview and screen potential adopters and make certain that cats being adopted out are in excellent health. For each cat adopted out through a shelter another cat is rescued - often off the streets.

For you to jeopardize the wonderful work of these shelters by selling unfixed kittens is reprehensible and extremely irresponsible.

If you had even the slightest caring for the animals in your store, and sense of responsibility you would set up agreements with local shelters to assist in their work, not try to profit by making the problem worse.

2 unfixed cats - and their unfixed off spring will create approximately 12000 new cats in less than 5 years. By letting go of unfixed kittens you are contributing to the problem, and undermining the hard work of wonderful non-profits in our community.

Again, your choice to sell unfixed kittens from your store is disgusting. Please stop it immediately.


Signature

[ithotyouknew]

Hello,


Village Pets on Montgomery Drive in Rincon Valley are currently allowing unfixed kittens to be sold for profit through their store.

This really gets me up in arms - so let me remind everyone why it is such a bad thing.

Each year millions of cats are put to sleep in this country - and many thousands of cats are put to sleep in California. In Sonoma county we have as big a feral cat population as anywhere, and cats are put to sleep in shelters when they get overcrowded. This means cats being put to sleep, or living very rough lives because we humans arent doing the right thing.

Shelters work incredibly hard to rescue cats, and to limit the cat population. When you adopt a cat through a shelter it will ALWAYS be fixed - because the shelters do not want cats out there accidentally breeding. They dont want to kill another few hundred (or thousand) cats in the next couple of years. And dont kid yourselves - cats are extremely prolific breeders.

When you adopt through a shelter you support their work through the adoption fee. This means more cats can be adopted, the cat population will be more limited, and very importantly the cat you take home is most likely healthy and definitely fixed. You also at least know for sure the cat has seen a vet.

Further more the shelters screen would-be adopters to make sure the cats get a good home, instead of relying on an emotional gut reaction of someone coming through the store, seeing this cute fuzz ball kitten and buying it on the spot.

Selling kittens as a profit endeavor - and not making sure those kittens are fixed before sending them out the door is extremely irresponsible and shows an incredible lack of respect or caring for the animals in their care.

I called Village Pets myself to verify this practice and they said yes they do it - because the kittens are too small to be fixed. This in essence means the kittens are quite likely also too young to be taken away from their mothers. Toda vets can fix kittens as long as they weigh 24 ounces.

I hope all of you will get cats from shelters or rescue organizations. I hope some of you will join me in boy-cutting Village Pets on Montgomery Drive - ohh, and help me spread the word - that store ought to not be in business.

Respectable pet stores and pet supply stores will have agreements with local shelters to help them adopt out cats and dogs. Not sell them for profit.

Shame, SHAME, SHAME on Village Pets in Montgomery Village for damaging the cat population. SHAME!

Maybe some of you will join me in calling them and letting them know what they are doing is WRONG. Their phone number is 539-7142

Thanks,
Malene

Leave Village Pets alone, they are doing the best they can, taking in kittens that would otherwise not have homes, administering vetrinary care, and placing them with loving families. They are socialized and loved, not shoved into metal boxes and left alone, like at most shelters and societies.

So maybe, Malene, instead of sitting at home on your couch all day long with nothing better to do but call and harrass a pet store, you could go elsewhere being Mother Theresa. Go to Europe, I hear there's a rat overpopulation there.

[Malene]

I have no intention of leaving Village Pets alone. My intention is to focus enough attention on to this practice that they dont let unfixed kittens go.

2 un-fixed cats will statistically create almost 13 thousand new cats in 5 years. I will put the actual numbers at the bottom of this post for those interested. If just two of Village Pets's unfixed kittens got out to reproduce then they have started this chain reaction with 13 thousand new cats in the making. Unless of course some of the shelters step in to clean up the mess.

I highly doubt that Village Pets has placed 13 thousand kittens in the last 5 years - making them responsible for increasing the problem. A problem that the shelters, and their volunteers you so cavalierly dished have to help clean up.

Village Pets claim they are certain that their new pet owners take care of getting their new kitties fixed. I would like to see them prove to me that none of the kittens they placed remained unfixed. The status of our shelters and feral cat population shows us in no uncertain terms that we cannot allow ourselves to trust such promises. While the new cat owners might have good intentions - we all know it is in human nature to not always follow through.

You tell me that the kittens at Village pets are loved. I am glad to hear that. Although I wonder why they only offer really young kittens for sale there. Could it be that they are the only cats they can easily move out? Making them essentially count on the gut awww reaction of shopping customers picking up a new kitten. Increasing the risk of cats going to homes that are not really ready to care for them.

You tell me that the shelters dont do a good job at caring for their cats. I agree with you that its rough to see the cats in their cages. Which is why we need potential cat adopters to be referred to the shelter not sold cats on a whim in a shop. Besides the cages the shelters have a lot of volunteers helping out to make sure the cats are given attention, socialization and love.

I myself work as a volunteer with a local privately run non-profit shelter. This year I have been part of rescuing and fostering several cats and kittens. Taking in feral cats and kittens and working with them for hours each day until they are socialized. I also feed a feral cat group every evening. My husband spend several hours a week cleaning cages and cuddling cats at a local shelter. What do you do for the cat nation in your spare time?

This is just one way we contribute with work to our community.

As far as Europe goes I would like to know which country you refer to? I have been to a lot of countries in Europe and few of them have a rat population. You might not know this - but Europe actually consists of many countries - each country very different from its neighbors. So maybe you care to elaborate on where this supposed rat problem is? Incidentally most of the countries I know of in Europe also has less of a problem with abandoned cats and dogs than we do here. Maybe they are more responsible about how they breed, sell, acquire and care for their pets?

The practice of allowing unfixed cats or dogs away from a breeder, shelter or cat store is extremely irresponsible. It contributes to a huge problem with euthanized pets in the US.

Or maybe you would like to see the offspring of those cats from Village Pets that you claim are so loved have to be put to sleep prematurely because - ops, they got out to breed. That is what you are promoting. Letting unfixed cats go out of the shop promotes euthanasia of the healthy cat population.

A Buddhist friend of mine has reminded me recently that the foundation for all suffering is ignorance. Village Pet is ignorant in allowing cats out of their store unfixed.

Malene


And for those interested - here are the numbers showing how cats breed. The numbers are figured based on the following assumptions: Each cat couple have 2 - 3 litters a year. Each litter is 3 - 5 kittens. I have assigned each cat couple 10 new kittens a year. First I take the couples and multiply by 10 - that gives me the kittens produced this year. Then I have to add in the cats that was already in the pool.

Year 1 - 2 cats create 10 kittens = 12 cats
Year 2 - 6 couples x 10 + 12 = 72 cats
Year 3 - 36 couples x 10 + 72 = 432 cats
Year 4 - 216 couples x 10 + 432 = 2592 cats
Year 5 - 1296 couples x 10 + 2592 = 12,987 cats

I hope others will join me in letting Village Pets know they are not doing right by the cat population.

Malene

Leave Village Pets alone, they are doing the best they can, taking in kittens that would otherwise not have homes, administering vetrinary care, and placing them with loving families. They are socialized and loved, not shoved into metal boxes and left alone, like at most shelters and societies.

So maybe, Malene, instead of sitting at home on your couch all day long with nothing better to do but call and harrass a pet store, you could go elsewhere being Mother Theresa. Go to Europe, I hear there's a rat overpopulation there.

[Barry]

I received this comment from a user who did not want to post this under their account. (Posting other people's comments is not something I intend to do much of)

this is an extremely inflaming post. I am scared to write anything because of all the mean people on this board,but this is one of the best pet stores in the area. I am a avid animal lover with loads of experience raising pets and breeding for 4H... This store is clean, animals are very well cared for. Malene writing they should not be in business is really terrible and uncalled for. there are much better ways to try to make change. Did she ask the owner to consider changing her/his practices? Whey doesn't she pick on Petco,,, where the pets go to die. That's a a tragedy that needs attention. If you would like to post this anonymously that would be awesome.

[Malene]

I intend to make this a two part reply. One to address the actual issues of letting unfixed cats out of the store - which the poster apparently still dont quite get. And one to address the "I am so mean" aspect of this post.

Petco - Shelters and "deathrow".


First of all - petco does not sell cats, they provide space in the store for shelters to display cats for adoption.

So the real issue with the cats that you see at petco are issues with the shelters.

Sonoma county has a lot of shelters. We have county / city run shelters and then we have a bunch of non-profit but privately run small to midsize shelters. On top of that we have a number of devoted individuals who participate privately in running "mini shelters" out of their homes.

County and city run shelters cannot by law refuse to take in another animal. This means that some of them have to put a healthy sweet animal to sleep sometimes when they run out of space. The private shelters can refuse animals and are predominantly "no-kill". Meaning they never euthanize a healthy animal.

I agree its heart breaking to watch the cats in cages. The good news is that by far most shelters operate with a mixture of cages and foster families. Meaning that the cats starts in a foster family to make certain it is fully socialized and get all the love of the foster family. They are also sometimes moved back into a family if it takes too long for it to get adopted. Of course it is then moved back to the shelter so it can go up for adoption.

Also all shelters give the cats specific "cuddle time", which is done by trained volunteers spending time with the cats out of their cages on a daily basis.

Due to the huge volume of cats in and out of the large to midsize shelters I dont really see an alternative to the cages. The cages minimize the risk of cats passing sickness among themselves, it keeps cats that might fight apart, and it makes the shelter "run-able" for the humans. Unless you have been at a shelter you have no clue the amount of work associated with so many animals together in a small space.

Many of the private shelters have few or even no cages. They often operate largely with volunteers and foster families.

There is no shelter that I know of that would let go of an unfixed cat. In fact I know of several private persons who foot the bill for fixing cats they have up for adoption on an ongoing basis and at a gigantic expense to themselves.

This is because they understand that two unfixed cats and their off spring will create over 12K new cats in 5 years.

If two of the cats leaving Village Pets unfixed got out of the house before they were fixed then chances are gigantic that Village Pets has directly contributed several hundred cats that sit in a shelter cage.

When I address unfixed cats going out of the store I in fact address the problem with cats in cages and on deathrow directly.

Please understand this - when I am angry with Village Pets - I am directly angry because I know with a high degree of certainty that they have contributed lost cats sitting in shelters.

I cant really fault petco. They work with the shelters directly. At least they give the shelters a chance to move those cats out of the shelter and into a real home. Village pets contribute to the cats in the shelters - petco contributes to taking cats out of shelters. The cats in those shelters -as sad as it is to see them there - do get attention and loving. By far most people in the shelters are volunteers. They like my husband and myself - spend their off time loving those cats. They spend time talking about the cats, caring about the cats and worrying about the cats. They spend time cleaning cages, and scooping poop. They leave the shelter happy every time a new cat they have loved found a good home. They leave the shelter sad when they see a cat being stuck in the shelter.

I did in fact talk to the people at village pets. They didnt have time to give me the time of day. I hope to create enough stir around this that eventually they will have to reconsider their choices.

Malene

I received this comment from a user who did not want to post this under their account. (Posting other people's comments is not something I intend to do much of)

this is an extremely inflaming post. I am scared to write anything because of all the mean people on this board,but this is one of the best pet stores in the area. I am a avid animal lover with loads of experience raising pets and breeding for 4H... This store is clean, animals are very well cared for. Malene writing they should not be in business is really terrible and uncalled for. there are much better ways to try to make change. Did she ask the owner to consider changing her/his practices? Whey doesn't she pick on Petco,,, where the pets go to die. That's a a tragedy that needs attention. If you would like to post this anonymously that would be awesome.

[Malene]

I am so mean!

First of - at the risk of being "mean" again I have to say that it is hard for me to take people seriously who doesnt have the backbone to stand up for what they believe in. The worst I can do is growl behind my computer. But I will leave that little sticking point for now.

Maybe I did speak a little too harshly in my initial post. I get furious, incensed when I see behavior that contributes to the problem instead of helping it.

If Village Pets will stop the bad practice of letting unfixed kittens out of the store thats all that is needed.

So far I have spoken to them on the phone twice and they havent been interested in giving me the time of day, or hearing my point.

I cant call a pet store that contributes to the cats in shelters a good store. I dont care how much they "care" for their animals or how clean the store is. If they cared for the cats they would not contribute to the shelter cat problems.

In fact - I would call contributing cats to shelters "mean". I tend to think that is a much worse transgression than any harsh words that can come from my finger tips.

Contributing cats to shelters is incredibly wrong. I could quite possibly tone down my rhetoric with several degrees, be more diplomatic and understanding etc.

That still doesnt change the fact - contributing to the shelters with more cats is irresponsible behavior. I intend to continue to spread information about this situation until they stop the practice. If they are an otherwise good store then they wont like the negative publicity I intend to throw their way.

Finally if you want to communicate with me at least put your name behind what you have to say. Its the adult thing to do.

Malene

I received this comment from a user who did not want to post this under their account. (Posting other people's comments is not something I intend to do much of)

this is an extremely inflaming post. I am scared to write anything because of all the mean people on this board,but this is one of the best pet stores in the area. I am a avid animal lover with loads of experience raising pets and breeding for 4H... This store is clean, animals are very well cared for. Malene writing they should not be in business is really terrible and uncalled for. there are much better ways to try to make change. Did she ask the owner to consider changing her/his practices? Whey doesn't she pick on Petco,,, where the pets go to die. That's a a tragedy that needs attention. If you would like to post this anonymously that would be awesome.

[Malene]

Thanks Tacitus,

It seems those who wanted to defend the store cant dispute my allegations. In stead of focusing on the cats they defend themselves by claiming I am mean. After they call me a few names they run and hide. I guess thats a nice little diversion.

Granted - I could have been a lot more diplomatic in my initial post. I was pissed.

I am hoping that some people will look at this thread and take 3 minutes to diplomatically ask Village Pets to please spay / neuter their cats before letting them go.

It was public outcry that spurred the large chain stores, and by far most smaller stores to stop selling cats and dogs.

The store is dependent on having a good name. The more people who let them know that the cats have to be fixed the better the chance they will stop that nasty practice.

To anyone who reads this - please, please, please - take just a few minutes out of your busy life and ask the store to please spay / neuter their cats before letting them go.

Thank You!
Malene

I've now read the entire discussion and as yet have not heard anyone say that Malene is wrong in her assertion that Village Pets is selling kittens without them being spay/neutered.

The always surprising hostility I associate (having experienced) with this category has not yet responded to Malene's assertion. The store may be clean and all that; the store may even sell rescue kits (proof on that, please?) but if they don't s/n the kits, the problem of overpopulation and resultant death in shelters will continue.

[Malene]

Thanks Tacitus for taking the time out of your day to contact Village Pets. I am hoping more people will follow suit.

If they think they can just hang up and go about their day then there isnt enough pressure on them yet. They are telling themselves that we are just a small party of crazy cat people, and they are not losing any substantial business. While I might happily and proudly agree to be a crazy cat person, I would like there to be substantial pressure on Village Pets.

For the sake of the few hundred cats that has ended up in cat shelters over the last years as a direct result of the actions of Village Pets I sincerely hope more people will take some time to contact them.

Maybe it is indeed time for us to find the owners of that store, ask them a few questions, and then see if the Press Democrat might be interested in asking some questions about this practice.

These people need attention - lots of attention. Enough attention so they start to feel some sense of responsibility for their actions.

Thanks again for your activism on behalf of the kitties.

Malene

Before I called Village Pets, I talked with a friend at our county shelter who told me that to the best of her knowledge no pet store in the county sold kittens without first spay/neutering.

So, with that knowledge, I called and spoke to a young woman who said yes, indeed, the store did sell kits without s/n. I then asked why and noted that I understood that this was the only pet store in county who did this. At this point I was hung up on. So I guess they're feeling the pressure.

[ladyd]

To Malene & All the Others Misjudging Village Pets:
I am quite disappointed in the way you all are going about this. Did any of you do a little research about Village Pets and their practices? For your information, we are not a careless pet shop just there for the money. The whole reason we began carrying kittens at the shop was because, back in the day people would just drop off unwanted litters in the back of my truck bed, or in the front of the store, or in back of the store, or come in to the store and just leave them and walk out. The litters we take in are about 7weeks old, and I think, that they are too young for such a big surgery and even too young to be outside unattended. I know that the population of cats is high, so finding them loving homes that will take care of them, and love them is what I'm trying to do. Village Pets has tried to work with the Humane Society, but they hinder more than help, with the adoption of kittens. You dont know how many litters I've tried to take to them, and from them, to try to adopt, and they just flat out refused me. And you ask them "well, what should I do?" and they respond "I dont know."
At least we take in the litters people bring, we give them all the proper immunizations, including feline leukemia and the feline aids test; and then make sure they are placed in caring homes. There is only so much responsibility we can take. Pet owners need to take a little, dont you think? We explain, when the kitten is sold, when he/she should be fixed and also give them a few numbers of places to go. We charge for the kittens our vet bill, which is exactly what the Humane Society does also.
I appreciate everyones concern, but we all need to do a little bit to solve this problem. I feel like I am doing the best I can, and my customers are doing the best they can. I am not ashamed at all. You should be ashamed for trying to shut down another helping hand who is on your side.
Sincerely,
Mona

[ithotyouknew]

To Malene & All the Others Misjudging Village Pets:
I am quite disappointed in the way you all are going about this. Did any of you do a little research about Village Pets and their practices? For your information, we are not a careless pet shop just there for the money. The whole reason we began carrying kittens at the shop was because, back in the day people would just drop off unwanted litters in the back of my truck bed, or in the front of the store, or in back of the store, or come in to the store and just leave them and walk out. The litters we take in are about 7weeks old, and I think, that they are too young for such a big surgery and even too young to be outside unattended. I know that the population of cats is high, so finding them loving homes that will take care of them, and love them is what I'm trying to do. Village Pets has tried to work with the Humane Society, but they hinder more than help, with the adoption of kittens. You dont know how many litters I've tried to take to them, and from them, to try to adopt, and they just flat out refused me. And you ask them "well, what should I do?" and they respond "I dont know."
At least we take in the litters people bring, we give them all the proper immunizations, including feline leukemia and the feline aids test; and then make sure they are placed in caring homes. There is only so much responsibility we can take. Pet owners need to take a little, dont you think? We explain, when the kitten is sold, when he/she should be fixed and also give them a few numbers of places to go. We charge for the kittens our vet bill, which is exactly what the Humane Society does also.
I appreciate everyones concern, but we all need to do a little bit to solve this problem. I feel like I am doing the best I can, and my customers are doing the best they can. I am not ashamed at all. You should be ashamed for trying to shut down another helping hand who is on your side.
Sincerely,
Mona

I agree 100% with all explanations provided by Mona. Malene and her friends are nothing more than a nuisance; they are doing absolutely nothing helpful, and instead, are trying to harm a local pet store that is doing ALL THAT IT CAN. SHAME SHAME SHAMEon people trying to put useless "pressure" on a store that cares for animals and the community. Good luck in your attempts Malene. You have my patronage Village Pets, and my complete support Mona .

[Malene]

Mona,

Since I know your store has taken to hang up on us when we try to contact you to express our concern with your practice of letting unfixed kittens out the door, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to respond to this thread.

By your own admission here publicly on this forum you allow kittens out the door that has not been spayed and neutered.

Vets can spay or neuter kittens when they have reached 24 oz. They usually reach that weight by their 4 - 6 weeks old. Before that they really should not be removed from their mom.

Also by your own post you are aware of the gigantic problem of unwanted cats.

The problem with unwanted cats exists exactly because a little too often people dont do the right thing and have their cats spayed and neutered.

You want the cat guardians to take their part of the responsibility, and in principle I couldnt agree more.

In reality - there are so many unwanted cats because animal guardians often dont do the right thing.

As long as there are cats not being spayed or neutered there will be cats dropped off at locations they should not be dropped off. There will be cats starving on the streets, and there will be cats stuck in cages. The dropped off cats, the starving cats and the cats stuck in cages are all a direct result of unfixed cats.

Maybe you have good intentions - but inspite of those good intentions you are making the problem worse.

The only way you or anyone can make sure that cats are spayed and neutered is by not allowing them out the door unfixed. If two cats from your store has remained unfixed in the last 5 years you have most likely started a chain reaction with thousands of new cats in the making. Where should those new cats go? To you? To the humane society or other shelters? Or on the streets to starve?

This is the issue I have tried to raise, and in spite of taking the time to answer the posts you have not answered that one question.

You tell me you dont like the humane society. Ok, I know of multiple small privately run shelters in Santa Rosa - why not work with some of them?

Or, if you are really serious about working with the humane society, it might just be possibe for Tacitus to bring you in contact with someone over there. They wont stand for unfixed cats out the door though.

Mona - as long as I know of unfixed cats going out the door from your store I am going to continue to promote awareness of the kind of problem this constitutes. I am currently continuing to post on various community boards. I am also working to get something in the boho or press democrat. Finally, I might take a couple of afternoons, place myself outside your store and talk to your customers. Yes - I will not shy away from that option, inspite of my busy schedule.

I sincerely hope you will reconsider your actions. I sincerely hope that enough people tell you that allowing unfixed cats out the door is a bad idea. I know you need customers and your good name should mean something to you. If enough people tell you this is a bad idea I assume that eventually you will have to listen.

Malene

To Malene & All the Others Misjudging Village Pets:
I am quite disappointed in the way you all are going about this. Did any of you do a little research about Village Pets and their practices? For your information, we are not a careless pet shop just there for the money. The whole reason we began carrying kittens at the shop was because, back in the day people would just drop off unwanted litters in the back of my truck bed, or in the front of the store, or in back of the store, or come in to the store and just leave them and walk out. The litters we take in are about 7weeks old, and I think, that they are too young for such a big surgery and even too young to be outside unattended. I know that the population of cats is high, so finding them loving homes that will take care of them, and love them is what I'm trying to do. Village Pets has tried to work with the Humane Society, but they hinder more than help, with the adoption of kittens. You dont know how many litters I've tried to take to them, and from them, to try to adopt, and they just flat out refused me. And you ask them "well, what should I do?" and they respond "I dont know."
At least we take in the litters people bring, we give them all the proper immunizations, including feline leukemia and the feline aids test; and then make sure they are placed in caring homes. There is only so much responsibility we can take. Pet owners need to take a little, dont you think? We explain, when the kitten is sold, when he/she should be fixed and also give them a few numbers of places to go. We charge for the kittens our vet bill, which is exactly what the Humane Society does also.
I appreciate everyones concern, but we all need to do a little bit to solve this problem. I feel like I am doing the best I can, and my customers are doing the best they can. I am not ashamed at all. You should be ashamed for trying to shut down another helping hand who is on your side.
Sincerely,
Mona

[Barry]

I can see both sides of this issue.

Malene is asking Village Pets to do a community service, while Village Pets is a business, not a public service agency. According to Mona, they are given cats, un-asked for, and are just trying to pass them along with as much care and they can provide.

If its true that all other Sonoma County pet store do not allow kittens out the door that are not s/n, then it would seem to be a fair business cost.

In fact it would seem like a good idea that all the pet stores agree to a common approach for handling this problem.

And it seems like this is a community wide problem. It needs to be addressed and place the cost/responsibility on the pets stores does not seem entirely fair or effective.

It seems to me that s/n should be free, even though its the pet owner's responsibility do so, so that cost is never an issue that prevents someone for doing the right thing. And addressing this issue on the pet store level seems wholly inadequate.

But then how to pay for that? One one hand, its a community service/responsibility to keep the feral population down, and other hand its a pet owner's responsibility to get their pet s/n, so they would be getting an extra benefit from this free service.

So I think there should be a tax on cat food (or just a voluntary fund from all food manufactures) , with the proceeds used to fund s/n clinics. It doesn't need to be able to pay the full cost of the free s/n, but it should help (say 40%) with the balance coming from the community either be donations (there's got to be some "well heeled" pet owners out there who could help), or even a rather small parcel tax.

Any way, that's my 3cents on the issue. I think its a valid issue and information is always a good thing as long as it is true and presented respectfully.

[Malene]

Barry,

I appreciate your even handed point of view.

About 15 years ago animal activitists got the public up in arms about the conditions that many dogs and cats come from when they are sold through pet stores.

The result was that by far most pet stores have stopped selling cats and dogs completely.

The other side of that is that it is incredibly hard for pet stores to break even on cats and dogs. Veterinary bills are high - spay / neuter, vaccinations and other health issues makes the cost astronomical. Added to that is the fact that the pet stores can really only be certain to move the youngest babies out the door. Adult cats usually get stuck in the store for a long time and so food bills run up as well.

And what happens with the kittens this store doesnt move out fast enough? There will always be one or two kittens here and there that gets a little too old to be moved out fast. Do they drop those kittens off at the humane society? Or what do they do with them? They will rack up a food bill fairly fast.

I dont know of one other pet store in Sonoma county that sells cats and dogs. There are several pet stores that allow various shelters to display their cats and dogs in the store, but they dont sell them. Not a single one of them sell cats or dogs that are not fixed to the best of my knowledge.

In this case - the store only sells extremely young kittens. Understandable - those are the only cats they can expect to move out fast enough. As you said this is a business not a non-profit organization. They provide veterinary care - except the most expensive single item on the list - spay / neuter.

Public service or business - it is plain old wrong to allow cats out the door that hasnt been fixed. It is and should be a regular business expense.

As far as covering the cost of spay neuter there actually are multiple programs in Sonoma county. One of the cats we rescued this year had to be fixed before we let him go. Please understand that my husband and I are not a non-profit organization. We dont have a whole lot of money.

We came across a cat that needed rescuing, and he wasnt fixed. So we undertook the cost of this surgery ourselves. I spend a couple of hours calling vet clinics asking for discounts + a low cost voucher from the city of Rohnert Park we paid $15 for the neuter. The regular rate for this runs from $55 - $155 depending on the vet. Santa Rosa has these programs too.

I am pretty sure that a store could get an agreement with a vet for ongoing business and bulk discounts.

In spite of the accessibility of low cost spay / neuter programs people often still dont do the right thing. They might have good intentions, but it just doesnt get done. Thats reality. I suspect if the store worked on it they could possibly get access to the low cost vouchers for their own cats.

A pet store makes their living off pets. I think it is reasonable to expect them to be passionate about the caring for pets. When a pet store contributes to a national problem like cat overpopulation then they show a really ugly side of themselves.

So that is my ongoing point of view - business or non-profit - it is wrong to contribute to cat overpopulation. The store needs to change their practices.

Malene

I can see both sides of this issue.

Malene is asking Village Pets to do a community service, while Village Pets is a business, not a public service agency. According to Mona, they are given cats, un-asked for, and are just trying to pass them along with as much care and they can provide.

If its true that all other Sonoma County pet store do not allow kittens out the door that are not s/n, then it would seem to be a fair business cost.

In fact it would seem like a good idea that all the pet stores agree to a common approach for handling this problem.

And it seems like this is a community wide problem. It needs to be addressed and place the cost/responsibility on the pets stores does not seem entirely fair or effective.

It seems to me that s/n should be free, even though its the pet owner's responsibility do so, so that cost is never an issue that prevents someone for doing the right thing. And addressing this issue on the pet store level seems wholly inadequate.

But then how to pay for that? One one hand, its a community service/responsibility to keep the feral population down, and other hand its a pet owner's responsibility to get their pet s/n, so they would be getting an extra benefit from this free service.

So I think there should be a tax on cat food (or just a voluntary fund from all food manufactures) , with the proceeds used to fund s/n clinics. It doesn't need to be able to pay the full cost of the free s/n, but it should help (say 40%) with the balance coming from the community either be donations (there's got to be some "well heeled" pet owners out there who could help), or even a rather small parcel tax.

Any way, that's my 3cents on the issue. I think its a valid issue and information is always a good thing as long as it is true and presented respectfully.

[Malene]

Thanks Tacitus,

In the end of course in order for Village Pets to reach out the owners have to have enough strength to say "ok, maybe allowing unfixed kittens out the door wasnt the smartest thing".

If they start to say that then I bet there are quite a few ways this can be worked out to the benefit of the kittens. As you said Sonoma county is blessed with quite a few non-profit organizations working on behalf of the kitties. I can think of a few ways this could be worked as well.

All we need is an acknowledgement from Village Pets - allowing unfixed cats out the door is not a smart thing.

Lets work to make sure that cats or kittens being adopted out are fixed before leaving the store.

Please Village Pets - lets work to make sure the cats are fixed. You dont want tons of cats dropped of in your store. You dont want cats on your books that are more expense than income. Especially not when you cant provide all the services these cats needs. Having them fixed before they leave your store will help alleviate the problem in the long run.

Lets just do the right thing here.

Malene

I recently worked with a committee of animal welfare advocates in a collaborative venture with our county shelter to devise a workable plan to better deal with the overpopulation of companion animals. I was pleased to see the number of private nonprofits in county - Forgotten Felines, Kitty Committee, PetsLIfeline to name just a few who work with cats, the number who work with dogs are plentiful.

Again, recently, a mandatory spay/neuter resolution in the state legislature failed, primarily because of opposition from breeders. The fact is that nearly half a million dogs and cats, kitties and puppies are killed in our state shelters each year. Clearly, there is much to do.

With the number of rescue groups active in Sonoma County and with the assistance of our own county shelter and the Humane Society, I don't find it unreasonable that spay/neuters could not be arranged for the kits at Village Pet. Perhaps a reach out to the organizations might solve the problem of having kittens leave the store without being spay/neutered.j

I would be pleased to do whatever I can in this regard.

[Malene]

Perhaps not surprisingly the store has not shown any interest in accepting help from outside agencies to make certain their kitties are spayed or neutered.

This just supports the assertion that they are really not interested in the well being of the kitties.

Their claims to want to help the cats does not have the ring of truth in the light of the facts.


Malene