Kitty Math and How It Rescues Cats

There’s human math, and then there’s kitty math! I prefer kitty math because I like the way the numbers add up better! For example, adopting one cat saves two lives!

How does this work? Easy! When you adopt a cat from a shelter that euthanizes, you are saving that cat’s life… but you are also making room for another cat to stay longer! That means that some cat you may have never even seen gets another chance to find a home! This is why I always encourage humans to rescue cats from open admission shelters.

Here is some more kitty math: one day equals thousands of kitties!

That is because tomorrow is Just One Day, that one day a year where shelters across the U.S. and Canada are asked to stop the killing for just one day. The shelters that participate (and sadly, not every shelter does) will promote their events and try to get lots of their pets adopted! And it works — every year, on June 11, thousands of lives are spared for that day — and many animals find homes. Find out if your community is participating on the Just One Day website.

Here is another figure for you: 1 plus 1 plus TNR equals negative 420,000.

420,000 is how many cats might not get born over the course of seven years if just one male and one female cat are TNR’d — Trapped Neutered and Returned to their colony. That is why it is so important to establish TNR programs everywhere! When cats that are considered feral wind up in an open admission shelter, they are euthanized because they are not considered adoptable. Some shelters have barn cat programs now, where ferals are adopted out to barns and warehouses so they can keep away vermin — but let’s try to stop feral kitties from getting born before they ever make it to a shelter! As most of you know, Alley Cat Allies is an awesome resource for feral cats and TNR.

I encourage you to get involved with what is going on at your local city shelters. Support them when they do positive things, and see what can be done about the bad. If you love cats, it is your civic duty to help change local ordinances so that someday, shelters can be no kill all the time. Help make Kitty Math work in your community!

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