If you have visited our Ontario Perth County SPCA in the last six weeks you will have met Scooby, a six-year-old, slightly overweight, black and white cat who was “surrendered” because the owners were moving. It had lived with children and snuggled with them every night.

Consider: this gentle creature who had done nothing but trust, love and give joy to all with whom it came into contact is suddenly plunged into the nightmare of a too-small cage, genetic food, unfamiliar noise and little human contact. Note this is not a condemnation of our shelter staff. If you visit there on a regular basis you will know they daily accomplish the possible under impossible circumstances.

What happens? Scooby succumbs to stress, falls into depression, the immune system is compromised and illness follows. Some volunteers step in to pick up the shortfall. Thus, Scooby is now being fostered, vet fees are being met privately, and a prayer has been sent into the ether that someone more deserving will rescue this animal.

Scooby is a cat and therefore, a dispensable second class citizen of the animal world. The prognosis is indeterminate but, sadly, predictable. If you have an older cat, please make plans for its future if it is no longer tied with your future. Elsewise, you may be condemning it to death.

If you wish to adopt Scooby or another older cat and need help with the adoption fees, please contact me at pmburnell@hotmail.com.

Patricia Burnell
Stratford