Cats can be among the most delightful of companions. They never ask for money, they don't complain when they're bored, they never snap at you when you've had a bad day. They are sweet, innocent little animals. Each has a sense of humor and a unique personality. Their naughty pranks can become the joy of the household, as I have discovered in my own home. Because I love my own cats as children, I am outraged when I hear of abuses against animals. For that reason, I am providing the links below. I am including links for social activism as well as links for animal shelters and animal related businesses with responsible philosophies. Please use the links below to find an animal companion, to donate to an animal charity, or to help put an abuser or a torturer behind bars.

I adopted Romulus and Remus, with whom you are no doubt familiar by now, from my local humane society shelter. I therefore erroneously assumed that the mailings I recieved from the Humane Society of the United States, filled with pictures of lonely-eyed kittens and puppies and asking me to help rescue animals, was an organization dedicated to helping poor, homeless animals find good, loving homes instead of being euthanized.

I couldn't have been more wrong. The HSUS is an organization which supports legislation which would actually PREVENT people from opening their homes to homeless and abused animals, making more euthanizations inevitable. The president of the HSUS, a tax-exempt, non profit organization, makes more than $200,000 per year, a sum which would be of immeasurable help if it were actually directed to animal rescue. They operate not one single animal shelter, donate very little money in support of neuter and spay programs, and continue to send me mailing after heart-rending mailing seeking yet more of my meager and hard-earned income.

I am sickened to discover that this organization, which supports a total ban on all animal experimentation (including that which would help other animals) is the organization to which I have donated close to $100 in the past six months. For more information about the HSUS and other animal charities, go to Erin Miller's Pet Page.

If you want to make a donation that will really help animals, please do not be taken in as I was. Thoroughly research the charities which solicit your money through vast, national mailings or donate directly to a local shelter. Every dollar you give helps them keep an animal a little longer.

Wooster's Humane Society is located at 1161 Mechanicsburg Rd and can be reached at (330)262-0152. They gratefully accept donations of old newspapers, towels, and sheets as well as toys, wet and dry food, cash, recycleable aluminum cans, and time. Their open hours are 9am-4pm Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 9am-12pm Wednesdays, and 10am to 1pm Saturday.

Oh, the irony! I found the above information on the HSUS while trying to construct this section. Please, if you are looking for a way to help animals, find a reputable organization. Your local shelter is a good place to start.

If you are looking for a pet, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN YOUR LOCAL SHELTER. If they do not have an animal you fall in love with today, please go back. Pets are dumped every day and end up at the shelter, hoping forlornly for a home. Every animal you adopt from the animal shelter actually saves two furry little lives-- the one you take home, and the one the shelter doesn't have to euthanize because you freed up a cage to keep it in and the resources to feed it.

Another alternative is to rescue a feral kitten. Kittens who are 8 to 12 weeks old are old enough to be separated from their mothers and young enough to be socialized to live happily with humans.

Purebreds get dumped too. Before you contact a breeder because you just MUST have a Main Coon, check with area animal shelters and purebreed rescue associations. A quick internet search on any of the major search engines should turn up a few, as will following the above link to Erin Miller's Pet Page. My Rom has the appearance and behavior traits of a Main Coon, although he is slightly smaller than many Main Coon males. I could not possibly love that little (okay, enormous) pound kitty any more than I do, even if he had come with papers. Animals which look and act "just like" certain breeds turn up frequently at shelters. They probably are pure breds or close enough-- most likely dumped pets or their offspring.

Do not patronize pet stores. Remember that those puppies and kittens have to come from somewhere, and every penny you give them helps them support the mills which produce them. Buy your pet supplies elsewhere. Encourage local pet supply businesses to donate outdated food and supplies they can't sell to a shelter. Build a web page to help publcize the adoptable animals at your local shelter. Donate part of your business profits to your local shelter. Create a product specifically to benefit homeless and rescued animals.

NEUTER AND SPAY YOUR OWN ANIMALS. Protect your babies from disease and sudden death by keeping them indoors. TRAP, NEUTER OR SPAY, AND RELEASE feral animals. Removal of feral populations will only promote a new, fertile feral population. If you can find good homes for feral kittens, place them.

Start neuter and spay programs that will help spay ferals and dumped pets to help reduce the overpopulation in your area. Wouldn't you rather a litter of kittens was never born than see them dead by the side of the road?

Please, if you see an animal being abused or neglected, have the courage to call the proper authorities and report it. All pets should have a warm, dry place to live and sleep, regular, nutritious food, proper veterinary care, and a loving home. All creatures have the inalienable right not to be tortured. Despite what our laws tell you, they are living, breathing things, and their right to live without pain must be considered above their "owner's" dubious "property rights."

Above all else, DO NOT DUMP YOUR PETS' KITTENS OR PUPPIES. If you chose not to spay your cat, it is your responsibility to see to it that her kittens are provided for. It's too bad if you feel you have too many cats or that they cost too much to take care of-- you should have thought of that when you decided to go out to dinner instead of spaying your pet. Get them their shots, have them neutered, and find them good homes.