Morton's Fork

I love wading in the river with my dogs!   Its early days yet to be able to safely go everywhere, but we can still have the delightful fun of exploring the changes that this years spring run off and rains have wrought in our little 'hood'.
Water changes everything.   The lovely cool swimming hole we delighted in twenty years ago is now full of river rock.   The river bank has been gradually inching south, exposing boulders that were well buried when we first hiked these trails.  The lovely lush romantic looking poison ivy has been gradually creeping west at a steady rate of fifty odd feet or so a year.
The other day, I saw an article in our local paper titled Too Many Cats, Kittens to Count.  While it was nice to see the Kings SPCA putting on a special adoption fee for all their cats over six months of age, one has to wonder why there is any confusion about why ... once again... this is the worst year ever for homeless cats.
It is not a mystery.  There is no puzzle.  The annual river of cats will continue to increase as long as the cats keep reproducing.
So it should be no surprise that the Kings Shelter is caught between a rock and a hard place.   The shelter is full and they cannot accept more strays.  Yet every cat that 'sits on the shelf' represents at least one Very Unhappy Tail for another cat.
In all fairness, there is not one single shelter or rescue group with the resources to have both an Open Door and a No Kill policy.
But wait just a minute there ... aren't Comprehensive Adoption Programs part of the No Kill Equation?   Hasn't it been proven that it is possible to Adopt the Way to No Kill?
As a sidebar note to that, when I had first heard of the NS Animal Wellness Conference next week, my tiny little mind became almost dizzy with the possibilities.  Gosh ... there could be fun demos of animal events ...  free workshops to draw in the public and of course provide a banner opportunity for the public to meet the adorable adoptables.    Kind of a mini NS Week for the Animals, eh?
Gosh ... I really had the wrong end of the stick on that one!  I'm sure its a lovely idea to have a conference geared for the professionals and volunteers in the Animal Welfare Field.  But the hundred dollar admission price tag is going to keep away the general public.
Why is this a problem?  Not to be mean ... but most animal care professionals will be working on friday and at least on Saturday morning.  Volunteers will still have kids in school and paying jobs of their own as well.
This is much the same thing as trying to promote pet adoption by logically explaining how much of a savings the adoption fee is. 
Logic rarely has anything to do with bringing home a pet.  The heart wants what the heart wants, eh?  It is wishful thinking to believe that prospective pet owners will pay money to be lectured to instead of having fun somewhere else on a spring weekend.
Remember, that if only one percent of the 350,000 odd households in Nova Scotia were to wake up to the joys of pet adoption, then rescues and shelters in the province wouldn't be always be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. 
What time is it?  It is time to recognise that the "choir" already gets it and now it is time to 'take it to the street'.