This morning I sent out voucher number 500 from Marley Memorial spay/neuter for Cats.

I started this program in August, 2011 to help with the over-population of cats in Bainbridge. It is for folks who can’t quite afford to s/n cats on their own. Some of the cats are pets, but many of them are strays or ferals who just show up in the yard.

Dr. David Bryan told me at the beginning that I probably wouldn’t make much of a dent in the problem. I said, “It might be a small dent, but I have to try.” Dr. Bryan was right, but so was I. I think I have made a small dent.

Thank you Dr. David Bryan, Dr. Cliff Bailey, Dr. Heather Dean, Dr. Ed Hight and Dr. Russ Henley for donating your veterinarian talent, your time, money and devotion. Thank you too, Antique Annex, Plenty of Stuff thrift store, St. John’s Episcopal Church and Handyway Convenience Store for your continued support. And thank you all caring folks who have made monetary contributions.

Now, about that dent. An average female cat can produce a litter before she is one year old. If unspayed, she will produce one or two litters each year, with the average of two to six kittens per litter. Time to get out your calculators, because this is already way beyond my math skills. But, I once read a statistic that one unsprayed female and her unsprayed female offspring could produce one million cats in nine years. So, I’m pretty happy thinking that in 4.5 years, I might have prevented ½ million cats from being born into lonely unloved lives.

I believe that every cat deserves a warm meal and a warm lap to sit in at night. I will never stop believing that.

If you cannot afford to spay or neuter your cat, please call me. I can help.

Sally Miller, 229-400-5610

Bainbridge