COLUMN: Paws to the ground

One of my favorite ever people isn’t actually a person. Instead, she’s my cat, Twinkie. Since I got her from my local animal shelter in 2017, she’s been a constant, loving companion.

Since moving to Iowa, I haven’t had the chance to see her until last weekend, when I went home to Wisconsin. Pets aren’t allowed in my apartment, and even if they were, she would not be thrilled about the over seven hour drive to get here. After she stopped being mad at me for leaving her (it took a solid hour), she was back to happily following me around, jumping onto my lap any time I sat down.

As I left Wisconsin, I couldn’t help but think about Twinkie’s start to life, as far as we know. The shelter gauged her age around 4 years when we got her. Before getting there, she was living the street cat life.

A local family was feeding her, excited she seemed to be gaining a little weight. However, two months later, they heard meowing from their garage. Twinkie had been pregnant, and had just given birth to kittens in their garage. That was when they brought the animal shelter into play.

The kittens were ok, but Twinkie was very underweight. She spent a long time recovering, still classified as underweight when we adopted her. Six years later, that’s no longer the case.

I’m so grateful for my cat and everything the animal shelter did to take care of her and to the family that brought her in when they did. The thing is, not all animals should be brought into the pound or shelter.

The Creston Animal Rescue Effort (CARE) recently shared the city pound might have to start euthanizing dogs again because they are at capacity. They have not had to euthanize a dog for more than 20 years.

In general, many pounds and animal shelters are consistently at capacity for both dogs and cats.

If you happen to find an animal outside, CARE asks you look at a couple things before calling animal control. Look to see if the animal is attacking someone or destroying property. If they are, call animal control immediately. They can be reached via the Creston Police Department at 641-782-8402. If the animal is in need of help, whether it is a kitten/puppy, senior or sick or injured, or if it has been in the same area for 24-48 hours, call animal control.

Besides calling animal control, CARE says you can also try to locate the owner via social media, including sharing to CARE’s Facebook page, or taking the animal to the vet to scan for a microchip. This way, a lost pet can find their way home without taking up space or going through a possibly stressful experience in going to the pound.

There are a number of ways people can help keep the stray population down themselves. One huge part of it is spaying and neutering. On average, dogs have six puppies a litter and cats have four kittens, though both can have much larger amounts at once. Additionally, these animals can have more than one litter a year, with pregnancies lasting around two months. Therefore, you can help cut down the stray population by spaying or neutering your pet.

Even if you don’t have a pet yourself, many communities have a spay/neuter and release program that you can take part in by helping peacefully capture local strays. Through this, stray animals, usually cats, get to continue their outdoor lifestyle while not repopulating the streets.

You can also always try to keep the city pound empty by adopting an animal yourself if you can. All animals are wonderful, but those adopted from a shelter seem to have an extra appreciation for the life you provide for them since they know the alternative.

The upcoming months are usually heavy with missing pets. As people go outside more, cats and dogs find it easier to slip out a door or window. Keep an eye on your fur babies and help keep these little ones out of the pound.