Langley cat round-up aims to curb animal abandonments

Langley's Animal Protection Society is trying to curb the problem of abandoned cats in its community.

• Kittens abandonedin Langley

Today [Saturday] it will hold akitten and pregnant cat round-up at its facility at 2622056Avenue. It will take any cat from any resident, no questions asked, from 10 a.m. PT until 4 p.m. PT.

"There are just so many cats out there," said Sean Baker, Executive Director of the Langley Animal Protection Society.

Volunteers will register the cat, do a medical check and then spay and neuter the animal before it's handed over to a new family.

The society has raised $20,000to pay the round-up and prearranged foster homes to take inthe animals.

It's the second round-up of its kind in Langley. One was held last July. Baker says it's a response to pets being abandoned far too often.

"We had some just a couple of weeks ago. Someone left them in a garbage can," he said."

"We had a box of kittens last summer.Tenkittens on a hot day boxed up and left by a dumpster in an alley. We had kittens left in a park in a Rubbermaidcontainer. It just goes on. There's been a number of times when we've shown up here in the mornings and there's been a box of kittens at the front door."

The round-up will also accept pregnant mothers. The society will care forthe mother until it gives birth and then find foster homes for the kittens.

Cats can breed as young as sixmonths and sometimes have litters three timesa year with up to sixkittens in each.

"You do the math," said Baker who wants municipalities to do more to stop the over-population of cats. "We're out front in Langley, I don't know of any other municipality [in Metro Vancouver] doing round-ups like ours."

"It's a pretty big deal because our attitude towards cats is just slowly changing. I think for a long-time people felt, you know, cats aredisposableso if I lose this one, no big deal.I'll just go to the newspaper, Craigslist, get another free one People haven't placed a value that they place on dogs."

Baker encourages owners to spay and neuter their cats and keep them inside.

MAP: Langley Animal Protection Society