Furry friends need families

Granton - The cats lounging in the cages at the SPCA in Granton are used to waiting.
They're not the cute little kittens that are snapped up the moment they're brought in. They're older cats, many of them the mothers of the cute little kittens they've watched leave the shelter in the arms of loving families.
But they need homes just as much as the kittens - maybe more, says Dee Brown, shelter manager.
"Some of them are here quite some time," Brown said. "Our cages are always filled with cats waiting for homes."
Oddly enough, the majority of them are black cats.
"Sometimes it's the colour that people are looking for when they adopt an animal - maybe that's why the black ones are left here," she said. "The last three or four months, all we've gotten are black cats."
There's usually a steady stream of people bringing animals into the SPCA, sometimes as many as seven a day. Cats seem to be the biggest problem; Brown believes there may be as many as 50 cats for every person in Pictou County.
"One female and one male cat can produce 20,736 offspring in a seven year period if they're not spayed or neutered," Brown said. "A lot of those won't survive. In less than three months, they could have babies again, and then the babies are having babies. What's the price of spaying or neutering a cat compared to that?"
Currently, there's only one dog calling the Granton shelter home. Buddy, a three-year-old Collie mix, wags his tail excitedly as Brown approaches his kennel, a treat in hand. He was recently surrendered to the SPCA and is adoptable immediately, she said, and would be great in a home with kids.
It's watching the eyes of children light up as they choose their dog or cat that brightens Brown's day.
"One little guy actually did a dance, he was so excited," Brown said. "He was chanting, 'we're getting a cat, we're getting a cat.' I thought it was Christmas again, he was so excited."
Cats can be adopted for $30 and dogs for $40 through the SPCA. No animals under eight weeks old are accepted at the shelter and all animals are needled and dewormed before they're adopted out.
But adopting an animal comes with a lot of responsibility, she cautions.
"People need to think before adopting an animal if they can afford to have they spayed or neutered, if they can pay for their needles," she said. "If it gets hit by a car, can they take it to the vet? It's all part of the responsibility.