American families dump pets as costs surge

NEWS AND COMMENT: Although some shelters have quite definitely gone against the grain in terms of having too many cats and dogs to rehome [check out the empty shelter], in general, The Times reports that US families are dumping pets as the cost to keep them has become untenable. This is mainly due to inflation and lack of proper long-term budgeting, I believe.

The Times reports that American animal shelters are at their most overcrowded in years. The reason? Fears over the economy. And the end of boom times when many dogs and cats were adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

I feel (I hope not harshly) that many people adopted dogs and cats who shouldn't have. This was impulse adoption without really doing due diligence to figure out the costs and even more importantly to check out the health of the animal that they were adopted. 

That last point particularly applies to the French Bulldog which is one breed which is being dumped on shelters faster than many other breeds. Clearly the owners have found out how expensive they can be to take care of.

RELATED: The French bulldog money pit and dogflation.

However, many adoptions were carried out responsibly. Many people relinquishing their companion animals have lived with them for a long time. It's be tough for some to consider relinquishing their pets.

However, according to the Shelter Animals Count, there are an estimated 250,000 more companion animals in shelters this Christmas then there were over the same period last year.

And it appears that many if not most kennel operators say that they are in crisis. Their facilities were already overcrowded before the Christmas festivities.

As mentioned there was a sharp rise in pet ownership during the pandemic. One in five households in America had a companion animal according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

There are fears over the economy in America and the rising cost of living. The cost of owning a pet is out of reach for many. They decided to abandon their animals.

Kim Alboum, of the Bissell Pet Foundation, an animal welfare organisation, said that "The economy right now is really challenging for a lot of families. And with the housing crisis, people are losing their homes and our having to downsize or move in with others. And this is a recipe for disaster for people that have larger dogs."

The Times reports that shelters are experiencing a big influx of puppies in particular including those of the French Bulldog breed as mentioned. There's been a period of inflation recently in America resulting in vets and pet product businesses raising their prices making it even more expensive to be a pet owner.

I'm told that veterinary prices jumped by 9% from November 2022-November 2023 according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Pet food costs rose by 5.6% over the same period.

Sarah Barnett runs an animal shelter in Philadelphia. She says that she has seen hard economic times which has challenged pet owners financially.

She said that people are losing their jobs have to decide between putting food on their table or feeding their companion animal. They've been left with few options.

Obviously, many people giving up their companion animals have had a very long term and good relationships with them. And I agree with Sarah Barnett in that not all people self-indulgently adopted cats and dogs during the pandemic. 

Lesson?

The story really highlights a very valuable point namely that looking after a companion animal properly is expensive. You can't do it properly on a shoestring. Perhaps the first stage in the adoption process is to check your budget, work out the maths, and make sure you maximise the chances that you can and will be able to afford to look after your new friend to a good standard for the remainder of their lives.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

4 things you should NEVER do to your cat

This is Jackson Galaxy's list of 4 things that you should never do to your cat but it could equally well have been my list or the list of any one of millions of excellent cat caregivers. Actually, my list would be longer but Jackson was limited by the length of the video. 

It is wonderful for me that at the top of his list is declawing. He's American and millions of Americans declaw their cat. He is alienating these potential supporters by criticising them which is the right thing to do and it is wonderful to see. It proves that Jackson set high standards.

Although he has to say that declawing is very bad because it is bloody well exactly that. He says declawing should be banned in the US. He's right and it is banned in 2 states and around a dozen cities but there's a long way to go. Across the rest of the world around 38 countries specifically ban it. In other countries general welfare laws would effectively ban it. Or no one even thinks about declawing in nearly all other countries.

Declawing is a big NO NO. Screenshot from the video.

His next pet hate is punishing your cat. Right again. That's number 2 on his list of things that you should never do to your cat. Cats do not understand punishment as it is a human concept, activity and process that is solely for humans. It requires understanding social norms and morals. That is not the domain of are precious feline friends.

Punishment alienates your cat if it achieves anything at all. There is a subtle modification that Britain's celebrity cat behaviourist, Dr Bruce Fogle, recommends and he calls it 'divine intervention'. 

Jackson mentions the squirt bottle. If your cat cannot see that the squirt is coming from their owner but just arrives as if by God's will, it will not alienate the cat but simply tell the cat that what they are doing results in an unpleasant experience. This should stop them doing it.

Personally, I'd never do this but there is a difference. There are better ways of dealing with cat behavior that a cat owner does not like: training through positive reinforcement or accepting it (modified human thinking).

Yelling at your cat is a form of punishment and is also a No, No. I can understand when this might seem acceptable or happens because the owner loses self-control but it isn't a good idea.

His fourth point of not giving up is, I believe, a reference to not abandoning your cat to a shelter or in a much worse place. There are always ways to resolve problems many of which are actually relatively straightforward.

Woman believes her cat is her father reincarnated which freaks out her hubby.

The title describes the feelings of a woman who has narrated her story on Reddit.com and it's an interesting one. The 47-year-old woman adopted her cat Benji because she was finding it hard to keep herself busy around the house during the daytime. She rescued him when he was so small that he could fit into the palm of her hand.

"My cat is the reincarnation of my late dad but my husband gave him to a shelter without my consent". This is a made-up image by MIKEB as we don't have a picture of Benji or his owner.

They developed a very close relationship and she believes that Benji is the reincarnation of her dad. She said:

This may sound crazy to some, but I really believe Benji is the reincarnation of my dad. When I look into his eyes, I feel something more than a cat. Like a cat born with a human soul. All the timing adds up, it all makes sense to me at least. Even if I am crazy the thought brings me comfort and I don't see anything wrong with it.

But she said that her husband was freaked out by her very close relationship with Benji. She believes that it made him feel uncomfortable particular by the fact that she felt that Benji was the reincarnation of her father. Her father died two years ago and Benji saved her she said. He is the best companion that she could have asked for.

While she was holidaying with her mother and sister her husband took Benji to a shelter (he said that he had taken him to a friend). When she returned from holiday, she couldn't find him and after a frantic search in and around the home, her husband told her that Benji was staying with a friend.

She demanded that he call the person to return her cat as soon as possible. He wouldn't do it but he did tell her who he had given the cat to which allowed her to make enquiries.

The person he said he had given Benji to was a co-worker. The woman contacted the wife of the co-worker and explained what had happened. She asked for Benji back. The co-worker's wife said she didn't know what she was talking about. This enraged her and she eventually discovered that Benji had been taken to a local shelter and there was no co-worker involved at all.

She tracked down the shelter and using all the documentation that she had at her disposal regarding ownership and a good argument, managed to convince the shelter to return Benji to her. Benji is currently with her sister because she has decided to divorce her husband apparently on the back of his behaviour concerning Benji. They might have been some background problems developing in any case.

She can't trust her husband. She logged a report with the local police against him and apparently has filed for divorce. Her family is supporting her in her decision.

The power of the domestic cat is huge when there is a close relationship.

It's the kitten dumping season. A minority are cruel to cats through their ignorance

The kitten season, as they call it, is upon us. This is the time when negligent and frankly ignorant people which represent a tiny minority of the whole allow adult cats to breed because they have failed to sterilise them.  This is my rant.

And so, thousands of kittens are brought into the world when they should not have been. Often, they are dumped at shelters or anywhere considered convenient to these ignorant people. As long as the can remain anonymous. Hidden from the eyes of the public.

Abandoned cat outside RSPCA Wirral branch. Image: RSPCA

RSPCA announce kitten season

The RSPCA have said that the kitten season is upon us. The RSPCA in Bedfordshire say that many people do not have their cats neutered and they are seeing kittens of 6-7 months of age having kittens. And in these homes where they don't spay and neuter their cats, they can go from a couple of cats to 10 in a matter of months.

We've seen horror visions of cat hoarders where they have failed to spay or neuter their cats and you can see the parents and the offspring, all with similar coats, huge families drowning the cat hoarder to the point where they are highly negligent of the cats' welfare causing ill-health and often death.

Dumping season

But this is the season of dumping cats as well. The photograph on this page comes from the RSPCA Wirral branch. An 11-year-old cat was left outside the branch offices. A classic picture of cat abandonment through carelessness and stupidity. Yes, I am angry; that's why I am calling these people stupid and ignorant.

That is the truth of it. There is no need for it. It just takes a little bit of common sense and thought. It requires a person to be a little more self-disciplined and a little less self-indulgent. Often, they fancy having a cat but they know nothing about cats or what to do in order to be a good cat caregiver. That is being self-indulgent.

For example, the RSPCA Wirral branch was called to reports of abandon cats at a Liverpool property. They found 40 cats there in very poor conditions. Just another typical story.

Importance of spay and neuter

Caroline Allen, the Chief Petty Officer at the RSPCA said:

"We have long been highlighting the importance of neutering for cat welfare. Getting your cat neutered protects them from certain diseases, and prevents unexpected and costly litters of kittens being born."

All common sense again. Why does the RSPCA have to lecture the public about this? You don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand that you have to neuter and spay domestic cats if you have a male and female living with you.

Surge

Caroline Allen confirmed what we already know namely that during kitten season they see a surge in abandon kittens sometimes found in cardboard boxes or dumped by the roadside because their owners can no longer care for them. They did not budget. They did not project into the future as to what was required. 

They just self-indulgently grabbed a cat or two because they thought they'd have a cat. Rescue charities like the RSPCA come under intense pressure during kitten season and over the summer months. And in the UK people are facing financial pressure at the moment because of the cost-of-living crisis. There is likely to be even more kitten abandonments than usual.

People should realise that abandoning their cat by the side of the road or even at the RSPCA is an act of animal cruelty.

'Chaos' this year 2023

The Wirral Animal Samaritans' co-founder Corrie Plumpton urges people to look inside carrier bags in case there is a kitten in there that's been dumped. She says that many people throw away unwanted litters. 

Just throw them away as if they are rubbish. Ms Plumpton told the Liverpool Echo that they are seeing a rise in injured, dead and pregnant cats. And they see this every year but this year, 2023, "is chaos" she said.

Corrie urges people to think about the veterinary bills when they adopt a cat. And the cost of cat food in every other cost. It is not cheap.

She added:

"People need to take more responsibility for their pets. We are seeing a lot of cats fighting, cats with abscesses, injured cats, heavily pregnant cats. There's pressure from all sides. We are having to turn away non-urgent cases; we try to keep one space free for a major need."

Yes, that's my little rant for the day. It needs around because people aren't listening. It is just a tiny minority but it is significant because it amounts to hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who simply do not take responsible attitude towards cat ownership. It's time they change their ways.

Rescue centre insists people contact them if they want to relinquish their cats

North Wexford Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NWSPCA) ask people to contact them if they want to relinquish their cats and not dump them in the car park!

Joe Murray, the chairperson of the NWSPCA is upset because when people just dump cats near the rescue centre that he manages it creates all kinds of problems because they are suddenly presented with a large number of cats. It upsets the management of the cats currently in their charge and those cats due to be taken in.

Cats and kittens dumped at NWSPCA in sealed containers. Image: NWSPCA.

And of course, the dumped cats can be at serious risk of harm. He prefers it if people contact the rescue centre and discuss the matter with them so that the cats can be handed over in a controlled way which is good for the health of the cats and good for the management of the rescue centre.

What sparked this request was a couple of incidents in which sealed boxes were dumped on the premises with mother cats and kittens inside. The fact that the boxes were sealed is I think unforgivable because the cats inside could have been harmed.

RELATED ARTICLE: Cat rescue centres in London, UK – mapped to facilitate finding them.

Joe Murray said that it was extremely hot day. Two adults and ten kittens were dumped. The second incident involved two adults and four kittens. It seems certain that this was a failure to sterilise cats. This happens far too often, and it is due to carelessness and ignorance.

Joe Murray said: "They weren’t left at the cattery, they were left in the car park, and it was only by chance that one of us noticed the boxes and decided to look in. If it wasn’t for that, they probably wouldn’t have survived the night in that heat."

Rightly, he said that dumping cats in this way is unacceptable and that it hinders the operation of the rescue centre and therefore the service that they can offer other animals and other caregivers.

The North Wexford rescue centre has limited resources and they are trying to service as many people as possible. They have a waiting-list. They only have a certain amount of space and dumping cats leads to the dumped cats jumping the queue. 

This means that people who want to relinquish their cats in a reasonable way and who are working with the rescue centre are then pushed back which is unfair for both people and cats.

They are forced to turn away people who are doing the right things he said. He further added that "Dumping cats like this is selfish of people because they're not giving us a choice."

RELATED: A cat rescuer describes what she faces when those who won’t spay/neuter are part of the problem.

He said that the cats were probably fine where they were, and they could have stayed there for a week or so which would have enabled the rescue centre to organise themselves and help with food and then use crates when they took them in at the next opportunity at a time when there was space available at the centre.

The key point that Joe Murray wants to make is: "The answer is to contact us and work with us."

As anybody who follows cat rescue knows, it is quite commonplace for people to dump cats at rescue centres either over the weekend or at night even in freezing weather in order to avoid meeting with the rescue staff because no doubt the person relinquishing the cats is embarrassed.

They should swallow their embarrassment and take courage to admit that they can't cope and then make arrangements with the rescue staff to hand over the cats in a controlled manner.

Owners abandon the cats that kept them company during lockdown

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has reported that 148 cats have been surrendered to the shelter for financial reasons. This is double the number compared to last year. They've all been handed in because their owners are cash-strapped, hit by the cost-of-living crisis which has been so heavily reported on in the UK. And the winter is yet to arrive. This is when gas and electricity prices are going to double or treble or whatever the figure is. That's going to push up inflation even further perhaps to around 13% in the UK. There will be more surrenders.

Pictured: Dustin 2-month-old male tabby and white kitten gifted to Battersea his as owners were no longer able to look after him. Image: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (believed).

What is particularly sad about this story is that the people who adopted kittens and cats during the Covid lockdowns are now abandoning them because of, yes, the cost-of-living crisis and inflation and, frankly, because they didn't really work out how much it would cost to look after a cat for the life of the cat.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home say that it costs about £1,500 annually to look after a cat properly. You might do it cheaper than that but let's put it this way, it does cost money and it is something which is often overlooked.

RELATED: Shanghai residents fight back against state-sanctioned Covid-related animal cruelty.

Battersea say that the people who are giving up their cats are often devastated and that it is a very emotional time for them. I would doubt that applies in every case. If you casually adopt a cat during lockdown to keep you company it signals to me that the attitude of the adopter is incorrect and that being the case giving up their cat is not going to be as hard as they state.

Battersea state that the number of cats relinquished to their shelter because owners can no longer afford to look after them has reached 9.6% of families relinquishing cats whereas it was 5.9% last year.

An example is Amanda - a fictional name to protect her identity - who found her two cats were a huge support during lockdown is but she's been forced to give them up for financial reasons. She said: "I was struggling to afford things and I didn't want my cats to suffer, so it was best to find them a better home. I struggle with mental health and the cats were a big part of my life, so it was upsetting to get rid of them."

There is a double problem which is this. More people are giving up their cats and it is harder to rehome cats because people are wary about the rising costs ahead of them and are therefore hesitant to take on the added financial responsibility.

RELATED: Fears that starving Russian soldiers are eating abandoned cats and dogs.

In one instance a couple of cats were surrendered because they became pregnant and their owners said that they could not afford to take care of the kittens as well. Well, you have to think why did the owners allow their cats to become pregnant? That is careless cat ownership.

Another high-profile cat rescue organisation, Cats Protection, said that a survey of 10,000 cat owners found that 30% were concerned about affording bills.

I can foresee many more cat surrenders taking place over the forthcoming winter. What is happening now was entirely predictable and predicted a couple of years ago during the first lockdown. And the same problem is occurring with dogs. In fact, I would suggest that the problem is bigger with dogs because more dogs were adopted during Covid lockdowns than cats.

On the other side of the coin, cat owners determined to hang on to their cats are getting pet food from food banks. Animal charity Blue Cross already has four pet food banks and is looking at rolling out more across the country according to the Express newspaper online.

Why do people abandon their cats? Lots of reasons!

Rescued Ragdoll cats. These cats were voluntarily relinquished by the person who bred them or who is breeding them. Photo: MSPCA.

There are many reasons why people abandon their pets. In descending order of importance, I have listed 10 below the spreadsheet. There are actually at least 3,207 reasons (😢) to relinquish your cat according to a study by the Regional Shelter Relinquishment Survey (Salman and others in 1998). Here are the top 41 reasons. Below that list are the reasons that I thought of before I discovered the 3,207 reasons!

Here are my reasons which came to my head fairly quickly.

1. Moving home. It sounds frivolous and careless but it is apparently true. People for whatever reason do not want to take their animals with them sometimes. I suppose the classic reasons are that the new home does not permit pets or is too small (leasehold contract). The downsizing may have been forced on the person for economic reasons. However, often the true reasons are not disclosed. Indeed, the person may even deceive himself.
2. A second reason for abandoning a pet is that the person adopted the companion animal when he or she was a cub or kitten and then is surprised (overwhelmed) at how large the animal has become when adult. This problem applies to dogs.
3. Purely economic reasons - the owner can't afford to keep a companion animal. This may be because of misplaced expectations or dire financial circumstances beyond the control of the person.  You will probably find, though, that the car stays as will the iPhone and the $100 a month telephone bill!
4. Another reason is that the companion animal was bought as a present and the person receiving the present becomes disinterested after a while. This may happen when parents give a child a kitten as a present. If the child gives up caring for the cat, the parents take over and then they give up later.
5. Expectations about maintenance and costs can be misplaced and when reality clicks in the owner gives up and abandons the cat or dog. This can be avoided by reflection and careful objective consideration before adopting.
6. For cats, so called "behavior problems" are a big reason for abandonment. These "problems" are often human expectation problems because the cat behavior is normal cat behavior and their owner does not like it. Once again it is about expectations and education before adopting. Should education be obligatory before people acquire a pet? If it was, you would need licensing. This is one of those moot questions. There is a need for better cat ownership to minimise the creation of feral cats.
7. Inappropriate elimination (urinating outside the litter tray) is a potential reason for abandonment. The reasons behind this behavior might be found in the environment that the person has created (too stressful for example) and nearly always will be or the cause is medical. Inappropriate elimination is appropriate for the cat because the simply react naturally and instinctively to forces beyond their control.
8. Another and controversial reason why people abandon their cats is declawing. Declawing a cat can result in behavior problems such as being unable to use litter trays as it hurts too much. This can lead to relinquishing the cat to a shelter.
9. Sometimes people become too old, frail of sick to continue caring for a cat or cats.
10. Rarely cat hoarders have a light bulb moment and realise that they can't cope and seek help. This as mentioned is mightily rare.

Click this link for Elisa Black-Taylor's thoughts on this topic.

RELATED: 3207 Reasons To Relinquish Your Cat.

Katie Price gives away her kids' remaining Sphynx cat

People ask whether Katie Price has a Sphynx cat. Well, there was a time when she had 2 Sphynx cats but no longer. It is hard to keep pace with the acquisition and abandonment of animals that live with Katie Price and to be perfectly honest I can't say I care about her but I do care about the animals. 

She impulsively adopted two Sphynx cats some time ago. The black Sphynx cat was named Hagrid while the standard coloured Sphynx cat was named Dobby according to The Sun newspaper. They have an Instagram account (don't they always :-? ). The photograph on this page is from that account.

Hagrid and Dobby - Price's former 2 Sphynx cats. Photo: Instagram

She gave away Dobby about years ago and The Sun now reports that she has just given away another of her children's pets in giving Hagrid to a friend from the local stables where her £10,000 horse is kept. The reason? It's because her so-called 'Mucky Mansion' is being refurbished as part of a reality TV programme, as I understand it. Therefore she is living out of a suitcase with her current partner.

RELATED: The wrinkly skin of hairless cats.

Katie's former boyfriend Kieran Hayler said that both the hairless cats were peeing everywhere around the home ('mucky mansion' seems correct) when he lived there. Dobby was relinquished because he couldn't get on with Katie's protection dog Blade. That would have caused peeing inappropriately.

And because there was cat urine everywhere the place stank of cat urine as it would (ammonia smell). And because of that she lit a candle to try and mask the smell. That caused a house fire apparently.

So that's the story of Katie Price's Sphynx cats. A disaster. What is ironic is that when she lived with her former husband Peter Andre, he insisted that she had to keep the cats because they belonged to their two children Princess and Junior. Times have changed and now anything goes.

Katie Price has a history of self-indulgent adoptions of animals without proper preparation and budgeting to only find later that she hasn't got the skills or the finances to properly care for the animals in her charge.

If it is true that the hairless cats were peeing everywhere it would have been due to stress because they were marking territory to reassure themselves. And this points to a chaotic environment which was not calm enough. 

Also, Sphynx cats are quite hard to care for because they need to be full-time indoor cats and washed regularly as their skin becomes grimy due to the oils from sebaceous glands deposited on the skin. 

They look interesting which would have appealed to Katie Price but it's not all plain sailing. You have to know what you're doing and be committed. This appears to be beyond Ms Price.

The aptly named "Mucky Mansion" is certainly large. It's located in Sussex and she bought it for £1.3 million in 2014. It has nine bedrooms and three stories. There is a two-bedroom annexe, stables, tennis court a swimming pool and 12 acres of land. There are many reports about its rundown state. This probably is due to the fact that Katie Price did not have the budget to maintain the property. It appears that her earning potential has faded considerably as she becomes older and the public becomes weary of her antics.

Kitten thrown from car outside the home of the person who adopted him

Sometimes there can be a domestic cat merry-go-round. It happens all over the place in all developed countries to varying extents. I read about them a lot. One person throws a kitten away. Another person picks him up and lives with him the rest of his life. Sometimes that process is extended whereby the second owner also gives up the kitten or adult cat to a rescue. They adopt the cat out. The adopter might also relinquish their cat. It can be a merry-go-round.

Gray - a cat who was thrown away from a car as a kitten and adopted by the owner of the house near to where it happened. Photo: Janet Johson.

There is a good and rather stark example on the Internet. It comes from Janet Johnson. It happened last January when her son looked out of their front window at 8:15 PM. They live in South Carolina and the temperature was forecast to drop to 28°F. A cold night.

Johnson's son turned to her mother and said that somebody just threw something out of the car in front of their house. She went to the front door to have a look as the non-descript car pulled away.

Walking down the driveway was a little grey kitten about 4-5 months old. Johnson was not in the mood to adopt a kitten but she had lost a Maine Coon that she had adopted in 2011. He disappeared mysteriously the year before last. Perhaps he is another victim of the merry-go-round? Stolen and sold?

Johnson rescued and adopted the little grey kitten and called him Gray. She said that he is healthy, happy, neutered, loved and aggravating at 5 AM. The casualness with which the people in that non-descript car threw away their kitten is shocking. It was right in front of Johnson's house for anyone to see.

Throwing out kittens is a bit like fly tipping in the UK when people throw away items by the roadside along country lanes. They do this because it's easier to do rather than taking it down to the council tip. It's laziness. In respect of kittens it is callousness. The mentality of people who do this is very poor. They could take the kitten to a rescue centre. Too messy and too much trouble. Too embarrassing as the reason is probably allowing cats to breed.

But there is a merry-go-round between the bad people and the good people as illustrated. However, sometimes it's just about mediocre people who adopt and give up and then somebody else adopts and they give up and so it goes on.

This practice happened a lot during Covid lockdowns in the UK regarding dogs, actually. Casual and self-indulgent adoptions of puppies led to early relinquishments when they realised dog ownership is not a pushover, which led to advertising their dog for sale on social media (against the rules on Facebook) which in turn led to more careless adoptions and so on. The victims are the companion animals who are shunted around between different owners.

Hong Kong residents are emigrating with or without their pets

I am sure anyone and everyone knows about China's crackdown on democracy supporters in Hong Kong. They introduced a security law which effectively undermines democracy in Hong Kong and which is in clear breach of their treaty with the UK which was signed at handover. The UK failed to call them out on this and did nothing except to allow Hong Kongers fast-track immigration into the UK.

People who push back against the Hong Kong government which is dictated to by China' government are subject to security clampdowns, abuses of democracy et cetera. Therefore, many Hong Kong citizens who support democracy and simply can't stop and comply, have decided to leave Hong Kong in their many thousands.

Hong Kong emigrants. Photo: Hong Kong Free Press. Not the title 'Free Press'. That is a loaded title and a dig at China.

This leaves the big question as to what to do with their companion animals. They can take them with them but the costs are extraordinarily high. One Hong Kong citizen, Yip, 40, spent over $14,000 to get his three huskies and his cat to Britain where he is settling with his girlfriend and a 22-year-old daughter. He simply couldn't leave them behind.

As mentioned, Britain decided to give Hong Kong citizens a rapid route to citizenship in Britain with specially created visas. However, because of the complexities of flying companion animals from Hong Kong to Britain due in part to the coronavirus pandemic, combined with the costs and the issues of quarantine when they arrive in the UK, many Hong Kong citizens are abandoning their pets.

This is confirmed by veterinarians and animal shelters. It is reported that records from the Agriculture and Fisheries Department in Hong Kong, show that there has been a 35% increase in animal health certificate issued from 2018 to 2020. The certificates are required to travel when emigrating from Hong Kong.

Also, the SPCA animal welfare group which operates veterinary clinics in Hong Kong reports an approximate fivefold increase between 2018 and 2020 of micro-chipping. This is required when emigrating to European countries, New Zealand and Australia. This is clearly indicative of a surge in immigration to those countries from Hong Kong.

And according to the Hong Kong Dog Rescue Charity there has been a 30% increase in the number of dogs abandoned in recent months. 20 dogs have been abandoned per month according to this charity.

And the SPCA's chief veterinary surgeon, Jane Gray, reports that they are receiving more telephone calls from people who are considering abandoning their companion animals. Her staff have been trying to convince them not to relinquish them. She said, quite correctly, that when you adopt a companion animal you do it for the life of the animal.

Unfortunately, when push comes to shove and people really need to get out of Hong Kong it does test the relationship between themselves and their companion animal. It's the true test as to whether the bond is good and the relationship is sound. When it is not, those are the circumstances under which relinquishment takes place.

Report: Reuters.

Pregnant Australian woman wants rid of her cat because partner is pet-obsessed

NEWS AND VIEWS: A pregnant Australian woman living in New South Wales (I believe) has put her cat up for adoption on Facebook because her partner, she said, is pet-obsessed and she thinks that if the family cat is got rid of he will turn his attentions to her and the new baby. 

 Pregnant Australian woman wants rid of her cat because partner is pet-obsessed. Photo: Pixabay. The photo is for illustrative purposes only.

She has done this in an underhand way because she has not told her partner about getting rid of the family cat. And she says that she won't be able to care for her cat once the baby arrives. Note: she might be alluding to the difficulty some women have in believing that cats do not present a problem to pregnant women because of the possible transmission of toxoplasmosis, provided they take care. I think she's referring to that but it is not mentioned in the story.

SEE A NUMBER OF ARTICLES ON THE HUMAN-TO-HUMAN RELATIONSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF CAT OWNERSHIP

She said that she wants to focus on her baby and herself and that she knows someone can take care of her cat after the birth of her baby. She said that she is exhausted by the fact that her partner won't "let our cat go". She said that her partner thinks that their cat is his "first child....And he's literally obsessed with the cat, like a cat daddy."

As a consequence she said that she feels sorry for their baby already but believes that he will change and take care of the baby when it is born. She still believes though that things would be much easier if he let the cat go by which she means relinquish or give up the cat to somebody permanently.

She said that she does not want to be mean and throw the cat away which is why she is looking for somebody on social media to take the cat off her hands. Unsurprisingly, Facebook users are unimpressed. They feel that the woman's behaviour is absurd and one commenter suggested that her partner should leave her. They rightly said that companion cats are part of the family. They should not be 'thrown away'. Note: the cat is not being thrown away, strictly speaking, but I take the point.

Another was astonished that she was giving the cat away without her partner knowing. They were baffled as to why she would feel overburdened looking after a cat once the baby had arrived. Comment: I'm not sure she is actually referring to the workload. I think it is more to do with toxoplasmosis and that unfounded fear plus a desire to force her partner to pay attention to her and her baby. I think it is more to do with attention-seeking.

Despite the social media criticism by some she has doubled-down and said: "I've tried my best and I am frustrated as there is no other option but rehoming our pet."

Comment: she is determined to get rid of the family cat and no amount of sensible argument will force her to change her mind.

P.S. I think she might be violation of Facebook policies but I am not sure.

Tackling The Top 3 Domestic Cat Problems

Tackling The Top 3 Domestic Cat Problems

In this instance, I have taken the 3 top domestic cat problems as those problems which caused the most relinquishments of domestic cats from homes in the USA.  In other words the following three domestic cat problems caused the greatest number of cats to be given up to shelters.  The shortlist will surprise you because these are not problems at all really.

1. Too many cats at home
2. owner allergies 
3. moving

Every one of them can be resolved fairly easily.  Certainly the most common cat problem causing abandonment - too many cats at home - can be resolved by simply not allowing cats to reproduce or not adopting too many cats.  It is a simple and straightforward as that.

Up to about 10% of the population is allergic to cats to varying degrees and many of these people love cats or would love to look after cats so there is a terrible dilemma for many people.  There are things that a person can do to minimise the impact of an allergy to the domestic cat but at present there is no easy solution. The ultimate answer is to not adopt a cat.  That sounds cruel almost but regrettably it is the ultimate answer.  If the person who is allergic to cats adopts a cat and then relinquishes the cat it is arguably worse than adopting the cat in the first place.

As to abandoning a cat because a person is moving home, I am suspicious of this.  I realise that sometimes due to financial reasons some cat owners are forced to downsize and rent an apartment. Many landlords forbid the keeping of domestic cats in their properties.  This is common knowledge. However, there are properties that a person can rent in which it is possible to keep a domestic cat because the landlord allows it.  It is harder to find an apartment that is suitable for both cat and person but they do exist.  Perhaps this is really a question of commitment to keeping one's cat at all costs and prioritising that rather than using moving home is a convenient reason for getting rid of one's cat. The Humane Society provide a resources page.

I might be being too harsh and too cynical but I have a strong feeling that some people, not many, use moving home as a convenient reason to abandon their cat.  In fact some people will go further than abandoning their cat to a shelter when they move home.  They simply leave the cat in the home they have left, which is locked up with very little food and water in it.  That of course is a form of gross cat cruelty.  It does happen.

These are not cat problems.  In truth, if we are really honest with ourselves, these are people problems which can be resolved with commitment and a bit of perseverance.