The Starfish Cats

By Linda Spurlin

”I feel so sorry for you guys, it’s just out of control”, she replied sadly. And she was right. Our conversation about trying to find homes for half starved cats was but one of many. Our group’s goal was to educate, and help with spay and neuter costs, but now it seems out of control. Kitten season is in full swing and more people are calling in desperation to find homes for unwanted kittens than they are calling for help to spay or neuter the mamas. The hardest part is that we are not a shelter and have no facility.

I write a monthly article for the Springdale paper. Several of my articles have also run in the Chewelah Independent. But although my pleas are for people to be responsible towards the care and futures of their pets, I fear only the responsible are reading my articles! Those who need the information the most are not the ones likely to spend their free time reading newspapers.

We are told regularly that we can’t make a difference. They say the cats we save, or spay or neuter aren’t a ‘drop in the bucket’. We agree that the bucket seems bigger every day. But we believe we make a difference in the lives of the cats and people that we have been able to help.

Remember the story of the starfish? A passer-by on the beach asked a boy why he was throwing starfish back into the ocean. The child explained that without water they would not survive until the next tide came in, so he threw starfish back out into the ocean to save their lives. The passer-by chuckled and told him there were so many starfish that he couldn’t begin to make a difference. As the boy threw another starfish back into the safety of the water, he said, “It makes a difference to THIS starfish”!

The story of the starfish can just as easily be applied to our local cats. Maybe there are so many that we’ll never save them all. But the saddest part of the story is that we could if we could just convince more people to pull their own weight and be responsible for their own pets. In other words, our people problem is larger then our unwanted pet problem. Please, don’t be silent. Help those furry creatures who cannot speak for themselves by educating their owners. Encourage your family, friends and neighbors to spay or neuter their pets. The ones who need the encouragement the most are the ones that don’t read this!

We don’t need a beach to see the connection between the starfish story and the tide of stranded cats and dogs in need of rescue. Make a difference in a life. Contact the Colville Pet Refuge (509) 732-4126, Becky’s Best Buddies (509) 935-6635, or Stevens County Cat Care at (509) 935-MEOW. And above all, encourage everyone you know to spay or neuter their pets.