Cat food needed

They are in desperate need of fosters, too. I copied this from the local paper:

"TAHS is taking an average of 20 litters of kittens each week that are too young to go up for adoption. TAHS is also seeing a greater number of adult cats being surrendered to the shelter. Due to the influx of cats and kittens, TAHS is using large amounts of canned food and the current supply is critically low.
In addition to canned cat food, the Toledo Area Humane Society is also in need of gently used or new towels, small pet carriers, small litter boxes (new only please), small pet food dishes, and small or medium-size dog crates. .

TAHS has over 160 kittens in foster care and an additional 10 litters currently in the shelter waiting to go into foster care. TAHS is looking for volunteers who are willing to temporarily open their hearts and homes to care for a litter of kittens that is too young to go up for adoption. The Toledo Area Humane Society provides all of the supplies necessary to care for the animals
Photos of kittens waiting to be fostered can be found on the Humane Society’s Facebook page under the album “Project Foster Kittens." To become a foster, contact the Foster Care Coordinator at 419-891-0705 ext 305 or foster@toledoareahumanesociety.org or stop into the shelter at 1920 Indian Wood Circle."

This was just posted on FB for Old West End Festival:

"Just a reminder that 4 canned food donations given at the Info Booths (by Art Fair at Woodruff/Parkwood and at the Arboretum at Robinwood/Delaware) will get you the pre-sale ticket price of $10 to see all 6 fabulous tour homes plus the Mansion View B&B. Donations benefit St. Paul's United Methodist church and Humane Ohio's pet food bank. To find out more about their program, go to www.humaneohio.org"

My daughter is a big animal lover - for her birthday party recently, in lieu of gifts, she requested that her friends bring pet food or other items on the Humane Society wish list.

She came up with that idea all on her own, and spent an hour there when we dropped them off cuddling/petting every single cat they had there. :)

mom2, what an extraordinary and selfless daughter you have! I'm sure the shelter appreciated it.

"...and spent an hour there when we dropped them off cuddling/petting every single cat they had there."

So nice of her to take the time to give them some attention. I'll bet it took a while to talk her out of adopting one, haha.

I help feed a colony of feral cats near The Docks. Fortunately, many of them have been spayed and neutered by Humane Ohio. Thanks for the reminder, and I have an extra bag of food here, that I'll drop off tomorrow because of this thread. I think I have an extra cat-carrier in my attic to donate.

Curious if food or money would be better. Would like to get a small donation pile for them. But they probably can get food at a discount + tax free. So it would be worthwhile to give them $20 instead and make it stretch more.

Anyone connected with them care to chime in?

Wish I had the space I'd foster some. My gf almost bought me a cat for my birthday this year.

I don't want to rain on the humane society parade, but they are one of the biggest money intake organizations in the area.
I would rather see people donate to some smaller facilities like Maumee Valley Save A Pet, Planned Pethood, and some others.
Just because the Humane Society is a non-profit, does not mean they do not pay their employees. And in some cases, very well. The previous executive director made around $100,000 and had a fully paid Jeep Grand Cherokee as a company car. Plus the benefits are pretty good for those working there.
My point is this, they can afford to struggle through some financial bumps. They not only have a full time fundraiser employee, but also have some fundraisers. I can't believe they'd try and portray themselves are struggling for food.
Take a look at their financial statement if you don't believe me.
Out of all the local animal shelters and related places, the last place I'd donate is the humane society. Many others do not have the resources or income that is given to the humane society.

I guess this is one of the great things about our country. We have the freedom to voice opinions and we alone decide where to donate or not. There are a few human charities we would not consider donating to. We do give donations yearly to three animal organizations in this area, and yes, the Toledo Humane Society is one of them. That will continue as long as we are able to. I guess we just love animals.

lynn

Thanks, she is a good kid.

Oh, I'm sure she'd love to bring a cat home. But, she also knows that it probably wouldn't be a good mix with our 2 dogs!

However, she is practically counting the days until she'll be old enough to be an "official" volunteer. I think starting at age 10, you can volunteer with parental supervision?

Right now, she says she'd like to be a vet someday. Of course, I know kids goals can change, but I told her that being a vet would be a very worthwhile, respectable career if that's what she decides to do. :)

Even though she can't "volunteer" officially, taking the time to visit with the cats in their cat rooms is a huge treat for them. They get positive human interaction and obviously she enjoys it so it's a win-win.
Being that compassionate and thoughtful at such a young age is a true reflection on your parenting. A nice ray of sunshine to hear about these days.

"I help feed a colony of feral cats near The Docks."

Thanks, 6th_Floor, for being so considerate and helping feed the colony. These undadoptable cats often have nobody to help them. If not for people like you, they would suffer and starve. Some ferals are adoptable if people took the time to socialize them. We have one in our house after none of the shelters or rescues would take her. We trapped her outside and got her fixed, then we brought her into the house. It took about a month before she would let us pet her. Now, she comes up to us and lets us pick her up. She still hisses every now and then, and flees from a room once in a while when we enter. But she is still very sweet.

"Just because the Humane Society is a non-profit, does not mean they do not pay their employees."

True, but look at all the awful stuff they have to contend with. TAHS is a kill shelter. If there's no room, they euthanize healthy animals. I would hate to bond with these animals, as surely the employees do, and come to work one day and find that a few of them were put down. There has to be a lot of stress there. Also, they investigate abuse, and have times, like now, when hundreds of unwanted kittens and other animals come streaming through the shelter. I think their vets are full-time, too. I'm not crazy about the place and there's lots of room for improvement, but we have adopted so many pets from that shelter that turned out to be the best pets. I don't havce a problem donating food and other items for the animals.

"A nice ray of sunshine to hear about these days."

I agree with you about that, Hockeyfan. She has a very bright future.

One guy has been feeding cats at the river for a decade. They approach him for petting, but I just put the food in a bowl and watch them eat from my car or just drive away if they aren't around. A handful of people help feed those cats, so they are never without food. Humane Ohio has helped trap several, and returns them to the same location, after the spay and/neuter procedure.