ARTHUR – Do you have an ex-partner you feel, at least in the heat of the moment, deserves to be spayed or neutered?
A Wellington County animal rescue will do it in spirit through the tongue-in-cheek 'Fix Your Ex' campaign.
The spay and neuter drive by Arthur Animal Rescue will allow you to name a cat after an ex to be spayed or neutered as part of its Trap Neuter Release (TNR) program for feral and stray felines for a donation of $20 or more.
Sandra Schaefer, treasurer and secretary for the rescue, said they were inspired by a United States organization doing a similar drive and thought it would be a good way to bring some levity to their social media.
“Sometimes our social media posts are quite sad in the situations we come across and it is nice I think for people to participate in something that is a bit more on the fun side of things,” she said.
The campaign launched Thursday evening and as of early Friday afternoon had four responses and funding for five cats to get fixed, Schaefer said.
Some of the names she’s seen so far include Marry Me Not Mark, Thrifty Nick and some dicey enough she decided not to share publicly.
The campaign is meant to be fun and light but it goes towards addressing a serious problem.
Schaefer said unfixed stray cats can spread disease while also reproducing like rabbits increasing the population in both rural and urban communities.
“It’s sad because not a lot of them survive and they suffer,” Schaefer said, adding it has a mental health toll on the animal loving community.
Last year, Arthur Animal Rescue fixed 530 cats with about 100 of those going through the TNR program.
The TNR program sees feral and stray cats who prefer to live outside get fixed and then returned outdoors at farms, shops and businesses where there is a desire for rodent control.
“We’re always going to have outdoor cats in our rural and urban communities but with the TNR program and fixing them, we can stop the increase in population and stop the suffering and stop the spread of disease and unwanted behaviours,” Schaefer said.
Those interested in participating in the Fix Your Ex campaign can do so by sending an e-transfer to [email protected] while including in the comment section Fix Your Ex and the desired name.
Arthur Animal Rescue will respond with a picture of the cat named in your ex’s honour as well as a tax receipt for the donation.