The Okanagan Humane Society is in need of financial support, and adoptive homes, after being called to rural Keremeos where three semi-feral cats have grown to more than 25 in a couple of years.
The cats had been dropped off at the property and ended up making a home for themselves under the residence there, and as they weren't spayed or neutered did what naturally happens and began to multiply, quickly growing their population out of control.
"Cats being what cats are, when they're not fixed, they're very prolific breeders," said Romany Runnalls, the society's current president. "They had been trying to rehome them as they were born but sometimes that just doesn't go very well when cats aren't fixed, and it's very expensive to fix them."
Costs for getting a single cat fixed starts at $500 for some veterinarians and increasing from there, putting it well out of reach for the family to take care of all the cats on their property.
Even the Humane Society, which has agreements with veterinarians in the Central Okanagan for bulk treatments, is still looking at around $10,000 to spay and neuter all the cats they are rescuing from the property.
So far, the society has brought in about half of the population of cats, with four already recovered from being fixed and adopted to new homes.
"Thankfully they've been well handled and treated, so they're socialized," said Runnalls. "The first half dozen that we got in have been able to be rehabilitated and some of them were sick because of the cold, but none of them have had any viruses or been tragically ill."
The first set of cats rescued and adopted out were the youngest and the most vulnerable living on the property, but the goal is to hopefully find homes for even the older cats through the society's farm cats program.
The society does receive donations, but they still need support to .
In addition to financial support, the society is also always on the lookout for volunteers across the entire Okanagan.
"We have some volunteers actually coming from Oliver to help transport, so other volunteers in the Keremeos area would be helpful, and they can sign up on our website as well if they are willing to just make the like once a week kind of trip," said Runnalls.
All of the cats that are being taken in are being fixed, vaccinated and microchipped for identification.
The society doesn't own a shelter, which cuts down on costs, and instead relies on over 120 foster homes until the rescued animals are adopted out. Additional foster homes are also welcome.
For more information, including to see the cats currently up for adoption, go to okanaganhumanesociety.com or follow their social media pages.
To support the society's Spay it Forward program, which aims to prevent unnecessary suffering by stopping unnecessary breeding, you can go to https://okanaganhumanesociety.com/spayitforward/
