By Joe Flynn
At Smithtown’s Animal Shelter, any month is a good month to adopt a cat. Nationally, June has been dedicated as “Adopt A Shelter Cat Month”. The American Humane Association recognizes spring as “kitten;)
season” due to the time of year when cats tend to reproduce. For this reason, animal shelters around the world tend to be more crowded now, as summer arrives, and shelters are encouraging even more people to consider whether they might be good pet owners.
But kitten season is not the only time of year for cats of all ages to arrive at the Smithtown Animal Shelter for adoption. According to Smithtown Animal Shelter employee Monica Stevens, many of the cats they receive are pets with owners who simply don’t want them any more. “Everybody wants a kitten, but they often bring back their older cats. Even then, there’s a wait list of a few weeks.” Cats become less energetic and, arguably, not as cute as they age, their owners sometimes get tired of them. The Animal Shelter’s crowded Cat Room is filled mostly with adults, even though most show no lack of energy and friendliness.
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Cat Room At Smithtown Animal ShelterSmithtown, along with many towns on Long Island, has seen an increase in the number of feral cats being brought to the shelter over the past several years. This says Stevens, is due to responsible people bringing these cats in to be spayed and neutered, both services the Smithtown Animal Shelter is required to provide. Just one pair of cats in an area is enough to produce dozens in only a couple of years. Not only are the cats born into a harder life than that of a house cat, but also, more importantly, they can put a neighborhood at greater risk for disease and upset other natural animal populations.
The Animal Shelter staff makes sure that the cats they have aren’t thrown into just any home. Potential owners submit to background checks in order to make sure that they are ready to care for a pet. For example, if you are already a cat owner but have never taken your cat to a vet, you may be turned down. The staff here has clearly developed bonds with each of the animals; no cat is to be put at risk of landing in unloving hands.
Stevens says that many of the people who come to the shelter to adopt have become interested after sitting in traffic on Route 25 and seeing the large “KITTENS” sign. The shelter’s website features a “pet finder” option that allows potential owners to find the cat that directly matches the personality they want. Although the shelter contains mostly dogs and cats, they are equipped to take care of other animals that are deposited with them, until they can find a home for these animals, too. The shelter is designed to send animals off to a home where they can be pets again, but the staff works to make sure that all the creatures there, even the ones who will never have a new owner, are happy and well adjusted to humans.