Well, Bob, Ed and Susan, I too am glad there are people who volunteer and donate to help animals in Jefferson County. (Letters, Feb. 9.) However, that may be the only thing I agree with you on. I believe we desperately need an animal shelter here in our county. At this time, we have seven cats hanging around our house. There is a breeding pair and five young kitties that were born last summer. If any of you would like to ‘volunteer’ to adopt a cat, please feel free to contact me and I will catch one for you. No, you don’t get a choice, but when I get one I will call you and you can come and get it, no charge!
At this time, none of the shelters within 100 miles of Boulder will take feral cats, and I just can’t bring myself to catch and kill them. So, of course, there will be more this spring when the ‘kitties’ are old enough to breed. It would be impossible to catch all seven at once, and I don’t have the money or the time to take them, one at a time, to wherever—or whatever—place will accept them outside of Jefferson County.
Bob, if you have questions—like who owns the proposed building we taxpayers would pay for, and who decides how the animals are treated—I suggest you attend a City Council meeting or public hearing. All of your questions were asked and answered at the last one. Would you accept $6,000 to take one of our strays? I’ll catch one for you. Then you can license it, feed it and pay the vet bills. Oh, I’ll even give you a litter box. It’s not much to clean it once a day.
Ed, yes, the Helena shelter does take animals from Jefferson County that are turned in by their owners. However, I have tried to take feral cats, caught in humane traps, to them and they will not accept them. Would you like one? Same offer as Bob’s.
Susan, I’ll trade all seven cats for one of your goats!
It’s really not about the money. It’s about the animals. Again, please come to a City Council meeting, public hearing or County Commission meeting with your concerns and questions. If you want to have a say in what is happening in Boulder and Jefferson County, you need to attend the public meetings and not just write your complaints to the paper. Come and debate the issue with your elected leaders.
