Mitchell County Animal Rescue is reaching out to the community asking for assistance during a population explosion of abandoned and unwanted puppies and kittens. “We are above maximum shelter capacity, currently caring for 75 cats and kittens and 31 dogs and puppies,” says MCAR Executive Director Patricia Beam. An overflow of 5 puppies and 16 kittens are being housed in five different area foster homes. Plus, there is a two-week waiting list for more kittens to be surrendered. “We just don’t have the room or the resources to handle this deluge of unwanted animals. We need help in order to humanely and lovingly serve these pets,” adds Ms. Beam.
Spaying and neutering pets, especially free roaming cats, is critical to controlling the unwanted pet population. Just one unaltered female cat and her offspring can produce 400,000 cats in their lifetime! Twice a week, MCAR holds low cost spay and neuter clinics, making the service affordable for everyone. The cost is $60 for dogs and female cats and $43 for male cats. Rabies and distemper shots just $10 each. MCAR invites everyone to participate in these low cost programs, and will even waive their carrier fees to encourage people to sign up. This is so important for all animals but especially free roaming cats. A cat that has been fixed is a much healthier cat. It is also a common myth that a spayed or neutered cat will not hunt as well as an unaltered cat, but in fact, the opposite is true! It actually improves their hunting abilities, as cats are not distracted with finding a mate and having kittens, but rather hunting mice. This is great news for those people who keep free roaming cats as mousers.
This overload of pets in the shelter is really taking a toll, and MCAR is asking the public for help. “More than anything, we need new foster families who would be willing to take a litter of kittens into their home until older ones can be fixed and adopted,” says Patricia Beam. MCAR will pay for all the food, litter and veterinary care of the animals, the foster families will provide the love and snuggles these kittens so desperately need. MCAR is also completely depleted of everyday care supplies and are currently accepting donations of: non-clumping clay cat litter, clumping cat litter for foster homes, short cardboard box bottoms as used under cans of soda, bleach, Dawn dish soap, sanitizing wipes, pet food, Hills Science Diet food for shelter dogs & cats, and laundry detergent. Monetary donations are also very much needed to fix a public or shelter cat, and can be made on the shelters website at www.mitchellcountyanimalrescue.org, by phone or by check to their mailing address of P.O. Box 308, Spruce Pine, NC, 28777.
Interested in adopting a kitten? We have many so many bundles of love to choose from, available for just a $10 adoption fee that includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, microchip, deworming, and starter bag of food! For more information about spay and neuter clinics, our current overcrowding situation, or our need and how you can help, please contact Mitchell County Animal Rescue at 828-765-6952, view our Facebook page, or visit our website at www.mitchellcountyanimalrescue.org.
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About Mitchell County Animal Rescue
Mitchell County Animal Rescue, Inc. (MCAR), located in Spruce Pine, is a not-for-profit humane organization devoted to the rescue and care of abandoned, neglected, abused and otherwise unwanted animals in Mitchell County, NC. Although we are a small shelter with limited resources, we are highly dedicated to our community and we strive to offer as many programs as our budget will allow including: adoptions, intake of stray and surrendered pets, lost and found, cruelty investigations and prosecution assistance, low-cost spay/neuter programs, low-cost rabies clinics, pet food banks and community education. We are a vibrant part of our community and are proud of the fact that we have won the Non-Profit of the Year Award from the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce for the last four consecutive years. We currently operate with 6 staff members, 60 regular shelter volunteers, a 9 member Board of Directors, and 2 veterinarians who work closely with our staff at a reduced cost. Our Executive Director, Patricia Beam, has been with MCAR since 1996, where she started as a volunteer. She also serves as the County Commissioner appointed Cruelty Investigator for Mitchell Country, NC working closely with local law enforcement. We have 22 dog kennels, 4 of which can hold multiple dogs in cases of mothers with litters or bonded dogs who should remain together. We also have a special cat area with 39 cages, many of which can also hold multiple cats who enjoy company. In addition to the space at our facility, we have an active foster program with 5 homes participating. Visit www.mitchellcountyanimalrescue.org to find out how you can join us in our work.
