16
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
KITTEN: Abandonment
is a significant
problem
Population control
key to helping cats
Continued from page 1
And, she noted, “My hus-
band, Chris, had been very
worried about me.”
But Frye didn’t stay home.
She drove to Bend to bring
the little female kitten to the
emergency hospital where a
veterinarian examined her.
“She was very thin, but in
pretty good shape after they
cleaned all the mud off her,”
said Frye. “She seemed to
have been weaned and was
maybe six weeks old more or
less.”
“I figured we’d keep her
for the weekend and then
try to re-home her, since we
already have three dogs and
one cat.
“But once she was home
we decided to keep her and
incorporate her into our fam-
ily. Chris and I have taught
our two older kids about how
to be a responsible pet-owner,
and so they have had pets
growing up.”
The Frye’s 4-year-old
daughter, Nayeli, really
warmed up to the kit-
ten and decided to call her
Michelangelo, after her
favorite character from the
Ninja Turtles. Nayeli is now
learning how to be a respon-
sible pet-parent by caring for
her kitten and cleaning out
the litter box.
“She’s a really sweet kitty
and loves to be held like
a baby,” Frye said. “She’s
happy, well-adjusted and fit-
ting into the family.”
Come In…
Relax…Enjoy!
Tim Westcott
Ronnica Westcott
Jenny Duey
Mary Morgan
541-588-6611
220 W. Cascade Ave.
Come in, Relax, Enjoy!
By Jodi Schneider McNamee
Correspondent
photo by jodi schneider mcnamee
Nayeli and Chris Frye with Michaelangelo.
But Frye will never for-
get how she came to find
Michelangelo, abandoned in
a box on a snowy night, prob-
ably kept alive by the warmth
of the other small bodies.
Abandoning or dumping
a cat or kittens is a signifi-
cant issue in Central Oregon.
Abandoned pet cats become
confused, frightened, and
likely will die of starvation.
It doesn’t have to happen. If
you find a stray cat or kittens,
or have a cat that you can
no longer care for, there are
many options available for
you to find that cat a home.
If you find a stray cat or
kitten, the first thing you need
to do is determine that no one
is looking for this pet. Ask
around. Check with friends,
family and coworkers, post
on social media, contact the
newspaper. Those same ven-
ues also work for finding a
cat or kitten a new home.
– We can straighten ‘em out –
Loaner Cars
Deductible Assistance
Windshield Replacement
p
541-549-DENT
— 541-549-3368 —
332 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters
New Year,
New Smile!
$300 Discount
for the month of January when
you start a comprehensive
treatment program!
Call for a complimentary consultation,
fl exible fi nancing & family discounts.
Smile by Kim
& The Brace Place!
541-382-0410
410 E. Cascade Ave
Ave., Sisters
CentralOregonBracePlace.com
Cat Rescue Adoption &
Foster Team (CRAFT) has
a Facebook page, and they
will post a picture of your cat
on their page. Go to www.
facebook.com/CraftCats.
“We ask people to try
and keep the cat themselves
as long as possible and that
CRAFT can post a photo on
our website to help find it a
home,” said CRAFT volun-
teer Janice Sershen. “We are
a no-kill rescue group, and if
they want to surrender the cat
to us, I may have a waiting
list of cats to help depend-
ing on urgency, sick, or
injured.”
Call your local animal
shelter for guidance. When
Oregon Humane Society
receives young kittens, they
first go into foster care. Once
they are old enough, they
go back to the shelter to be
spayed/neutered and then
placed for adoption.
Let the experts at the
Fly Fisher’s Place set you up
for safe and fun winter fi shing!
151 W. Main Ave., Sisters
541-549-FISH | Open 7 days a week
An estimated 70 million
feral cats — cats that have
never had close contact with
humans — are roaming the
parks, parking lots, back-
yards and back roads of the
United States. That includes
Sisters Country. And people
are abandoning kittens and
cats to die or go feral in high
numbers.
Last spring BrightSide
Animal Center saw a dra-
matic increase in the amount
of kittens showing up at the
shelter.
This past December, Cat
Rescue Adoption & Foster
Team (CRAFT) received
150 calls about abandoned/
stray cats.
“We’ve had calls from
as far away as Salem, and
Chiliquin. The need is far
greater than originally
planned when CRAFT was
being formed almost 10
years ago,” said CRAFT vol-
unteer Janice Sershen.
C R A F T, B r i g h t S i d e
Animal Center, and Bend
Spay & Neuter Project are
relying on the caring people
in the community to help
control the stray and feral
cat population. Trapping and
neutering stray and feral cats
is one of the kindest things
that you can do to improve
their lives and end the cycle
of wild kittens being born.
Tr a p - N e u t e r- R e t u r n
(TNR) is the humane and
effective approach for
stray and feral cats. Now
in practice for decades in
the U.S. after being proven
in Europe, scientific stud-
ies show that Trap-Neuter-
Return improves the lives
of feral cats, improves their
relationships with the peo-
ple who live near them, and
decreases the size of colonies
over time.
Trap-Neuter-Return is
successfully practiced in
hundreds of communities. It
is exactly what it sounds like:
Cats are humanely trapped
and taken to a veterinarian to
be neutered and vaccinated.
After recovery, the cats are
returned to their home; their
colony outdoors. Kittens and
cats that are friendly and
socialized to people can be
adopted into homes. TNR
stops the breeding cycle of
cats and therefore improves
their lives while preventing
reproduction.
Bend Spay & Neuter
Project also offers live traps
for rent to assist in the trap-
ping of feral/stray cats in
your neighborhood. They can
be reached at 541-617-1010.
Furry Friends Foundation,
located in Sisters, has a trap
for loan. Further, they will
sponsor the spay or neu-
ter of any Sisters feral cats.
For more information call
541-549-9941.