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What do I do about the kittens?

We are sympathetic to your desire to find loving indoor homes for kittens. We do understand that feeding cats and kittens can sometimes strain a budget. We want to help. We want you to understand the extent of the problem before you make any decisions.

The Reality of what you are dealing with:

There are about 350,000 free-roaming, primarily feral, cats living on the streets of MaricopaCounty alone.

The open admission shelters in Maricopa County euthanize almost 60,000 dogs and cats every single year because there are not enough homes for them.

As 2007 began AzCATs had ended the breeding cycle for over 37,000 cats. Our hope is to find a way to stop 10,000 more from breeding in 2007.

None of your tax dollars goes toward addressing free-roaming cat overpopulation in Maricopa County. None of your tax dollars support Maricopa County Animal Care & Control (“the pound”). No tax dollars are set aside to help low income people obtain spay/neuter services for dogs or cats.

AzCATs Assistance: Our ability to help when we are dealing with such an overwhelming number of cats and kittens is very limited and that is why we are focused entirely on stopping the breeding. We do not have a fostering or adoption program. There are a lot of variables involved when there are kittens in a colony and much depends upon timing. Just know that AzCATs will give you whatever help we can and that our primary focus is on making sure that all the cats and kittens you are trying to help will not reproduce in the future.

Because it is their best chance at having any life at all we recommend that you simply allow any kittens born to your colony to grow up and live in their outdoor home. We can help you get them sterilized when they are very, very small.

Finding Homes: If you do feel that you must try to find homes for kittens then we strongly urge you to try to do that on your own with family, friends, and coworkers -- outside our already overburdened shelter system after they are sterilized. Please allow us to offer you some guidance through that process so that we are sure those kittens are sterilized before they go to their new homes. (AzCATs is working with another organization that has agreed to help us help you accomplish that at affordable rates if you are TNR’ing the colony and are willing to sterilize the kittens before they are placed.) To find other low cost spay/neuter information for the kittens on your own call the Spay/Neuter Hotline at (602) 265-SPAY (7729).

Shelters: Finally, if you decide you must surrender the kittens to a shelter even though you recognize that their chance of survival is questionable then you will want to contact the Arizona Humane Society to find out what you need to do. Their number is (602) 997-7586 or visit www.azhumane.org. Here is what you need to know if you want to give the kittens a chance at living to find a home:

Treat them for any diseases like upper respiratory infections (weepy eyes, running noses) or parasites like ear mites.

Make sure that they like people and that anyone can pick them up. That means you need to play with them and interact with them.

Don’t take them to the Arizona Humane Society until they are at least 8 weeks old. (They weigh about 2 pounds at that age.)

Know that they will be euthanized immediately if they are unable to eat on their own or if they are wild (afraid of humans) when they go to the shelter. Be prepared to pay a surrender fee for small socialized kittens and an euthanasia fee for wild ones.

Speak Out: If you are as upset by all this as we are, consider taking the time to let your local elected officials know that you want them to address the problem by financing humane solutions to the free-roaming cat population. You should contact your city council or the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Thank you for your care and concern for the cats and kittens.