In San Luis Obispo County, a large discrepancy exists between the number of shelter dogs and cats returned to their owners.
While nearly 70 percent of dogs are returned to their original owners, the same could be said for less than 10 percent of cats.
Homeless Animal Rescue Team (HART) in Cambria is a cat-specific, no-kill shelter with some light to shed on the topic.
Events and donations coordinator Wendy Wright referred to the longer lifespan of cats and their independent nature as potential reasons for this trend.
"The fact that cats live a lot longer than dogs could be a big factor. Other than that, I’m not really sure. Cats are really independent creatures and maybe people get the illusion that they’re gonna be fine," Wright said.
Although the cause of this trend is uncertain, the resulting problem is definitive.
"There’s just so many kittens," Wright said, "There’s a huge waiting list of kittens needing to be spayed and neutered."
When so many kittens are born, more cats are left needing homes. This only stresses the need for cats to be spayed or neutered so they don't give birth to kittens in need of more homes.
Wright added that the kittens HART currently cares for take up two entire rooms at the facility. They're currently wait-listed for neutering until December due to the incredibly high demand.
Despite their high capacity, the adoption rate isn't always predictable, according to Acting Shelter Manager Kathy Wedle.
"Sometimes we have a whole bunch of adoptions at one time and then other times we have slow times," Wedle said.
She adds that microchipping or the lack thereof might explain why some cats never get returned to their original owners.
"If they don’t have a microchip they could have gotten hit by a car or taken in by another family, so it’s really good to get them microchipped," Wedle said.
As a community member, there are plenty of ways to help support shelter cats:
- Report stray cats to a shelter near you
- Take a stray cat to a facility to get neutered
- Adopt a local shelter cat
- Foster a shelter cat
- Volunteer at a shelter near you
