Ottawa Humane Society "bursting at the seams"

It seems that the Ottawa Humane Society issued a plea for people to adopt cats and dogs earlier this afternoon. They apparently have been "at capacity" a few times in recent weeks, something that is very unusual for this time of year.

The situation is so bad that they asking people to consider adopting a cat or a dog as a potential Christmas present despite the fact that they usually strongly advocate that people not do so, that it is unfair to the animal if it doesn't work out, and it apparently usually does not. To help facilitate adopting Kitty or Fido for Christmas, they're extending adoption hours.

That's a good thing, for if you read the chronicles of my adoption experience this past October on the subject of how easy (or not so easy) the adoption process can be, you saw that they aren't open for adoption weekday mornings. I think they also usually limit evening and weekend adoption hours as well.

You will have seen as well that it costs a little over two hundred dollars to adopt a kitten (well in excess of one hundred or one hundred and fifty dollars for an older cat) and between two and three hundred dollars to adopt a dog. Perhaps the Ottawa Humane Society, if their true intent is to help the poor homeless animals, will knock a good chunk off of the adoption fees to facilitate the adoption spree they're hoping to spur with all the publicity. It is, after all, the last week before the holidays come about, and cash isn't always plentiful at this time of year in households across the city.

Help us help you, Ottawa Humane Society!