Be the Difference, Be VOCAL

It’s summer. The heat is already to a miserable level here in Marion County. This is also the most difficult time of year in rescue. The cats are breeding like crazy, and everyone’s Christmas puppy has lost its tiny, cute appeal and is misbehaving due to lack of structure and training. So many pets are being treated simply as an inconvenience for people who want to go on vacation.

I want this crisis to end. I want animals to be spayed and neutered so their babies don’t overflow our shelters. I want people to stop being so selfish that instead of getting a real job, they sell puppies. I want animal control to have more authority and for our state attorney to actually prosecute animal abusers. I want people to stop throwing unwanted kittens out the windows of their cars, and dumping dogs on dirt roads.

More than anything, I want people to stop begging “someone” to do “something.” You are someone. You may already “have 3 rescue dogs and 5 rescue cats,” (and that’s awesome!) but you can still continue to do something. You can volunteer at the shelter and spend time with a dog or cat that spends most of its day in a cage. You can donate. Even $5. You may think skipping the coffee for a $5 donation won’t help but it will, I promise! You can start trapping stray and feral cats, spaying and neutering them, and releasing them back into a colony. And of course, you can advocate. You can be vocal about the changes you want to see take place in our county. The‪#‎MarionCoMutts‬ and ‪#‎MarionCoCats‬ deserve better…

VOCAL was founded with the initial goal of opening a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. We believe prevention is key. We need to raise $75,000 – and we can do it, with your help. We have to solve the problem from the beginning. We cannot let unwanted animals continue to be born into lives of homelessness and abandonment. We cannot let a first birthday be a rarity for the pets in our county.

Along with the daily 20+ calls we receive, we are now also receiving calls weekly from the shelters and people who they refer, both Marion County Animal Services and The Humane Society of Marion County. They are both fuller than full. We, ourselves, have almost 80 animals in foster care. We only take animals that are not going into adoption at animal services, or could not get into the humane society. We are the last resort for the animals in our care. We CANNOT continue to do what we do without your support.

I want this crisis to end. Don’t you? Support our mission. Help us “do something!” Adopt. Foster. Volunteer. Donate. Advocate. Most importantly, be VOCAL. If not you, than who?

Written by: Kate Rengel, Executive Director of VOCAL