Most of the time it's done the same way. For her $50 donation, which ranges from $25, the animal organization promises to fix up a cat and name it after a former best friend, lover, or boss.
However, there is a twist. What may seem like the ultimate revenge is in many ways an act of love, said Sam Ellingson, director of communications and marketing for the Humane Society of Southwest Washington.
“This is a shocking ad,” Ellingson said. “To get someone's attention and make them stay with that message or concept a little bit longer, try to get as close to that line as you can and use it as a way to really connect with them and talk about your main goal. Our community pet. funding spay and neuter surgeries.”
Is using a cat as a stand-in for a not-so-great former character an act of cowardice or revenge? perhaps. But it also helps reduce the number of unwanted animals in the community, Ellingson said. That means more space and resources at shelters for pets that are “unaccompanied or do not require advanced medical care.”
Plus, you have to fix it first before you can put the animal up for adoption. “So in a way, this campaign is actually also helping these pets find loving homes,” Ellingson said.
In Baltimore, the Volunteer Cat Rescue Society is another organization hiding its love with a vengeance this Valentine's Day. It has vowed to use the proceeds from its own 'Neuter My Ex-Husband' campaign to fund a feral cat population management method known as TNR for 'traps'. Castration surgery. ”
Every week, Elaine Rice and other volunteers care for the city's burgeoning cat colony, a population of cats that have been abandoned or born from life on the streets. The cats are tracked, fed and treated. Once or twice a month, the group tries to cage the animals so they can be spayed or neutered by a veterinarian, sometimes with chicken nuggets or homemade food.
“This is a labor of love that we pay for ourselves because we just love cats,” Rice said. “…We're doing this not because we want no more cats, but because we want a better life for them.”
In theory, TNR is a long-term method to gradually deplete cat colonies by preventing cats from producing offspring. And its supporters say it's a more humane method than killing them outright.
“So you have to remember that just one unmated pair can produce over 2 million cats over an eight-year period,” Rice said, noting that cats breed many times throughout the year. , added that they will give birth to many children. “Mating is pure instinct for them. And unfortunately, their instinct often leads them to mate with their parents and siblings, resulting in massive inbreeding problems.”
Aside from genetic issues, the feral cat population is fraught with diseases that can be transmitted to pets and even humans, said cat rescue board member and volunteer Janet Davis. Cats tend to become even more aggressive and willing to fight each other if not immobilized. And the proliferation of feral cats is putting native species, especially birds, at risk.
Davis said the more than $1,300 in donations the Cat Rescue Society has received so far through its Spay/Spay for Ex-Girlfriend campaign has given the organization enough funds to spay or neuter at least 30 cats. This is approximately one-third of the amount the organization achieved last year.
One of the animals will be named “Robot Mansplainer,'' after the donor's former character.
“She couldn't remember his real name because she had him on her phone as 'Robot Mansplainer,'” Davis said. “So we named the cat that name. I'm so excited, I'm not going to lie.”
Other cats are named Charles, Charlie, Steve or Stephen, Crystal, Emily, Brad, and Chad. A few more people will be called Joe, John, Jordan, and Jonathan.
Ellingson said someone in Washington state sent him a request for Lord Voldemort, after the Harry Potter villain. “But these pets need adoptable names, so we changed that particular name to Tom Riddle,” he said, referring to the name of the person who must not be named.
