In 2003, the city of
That’s where Little Forest Hills resident Barbara Canter comes in.
For about 10 years, Canter and some friends had been volunteering at local animal shelters. They found, however, that the real problem was not being sufficiently addressed.
“We looked around and saw all these shelters that took in animals,” she says, “but we wanted to stop the cause of the homelessness in the first place.”
In January, they took the matter into their own hands and founded A Different Breed. The group’s volunteers work with city shelters to find animals homes by bringing them out of the shelters to match them with people who will adopt them. According to its website, the mission of A Different Breed is “to address the tragic consequences of pet overpopulation by focusing on sterilization, adoption and education.”
“I’ve seen the tragic results of pet overpopulation,” Canter says. “And people are just uneducated as far as the staggering numbers of animals who are strays or euthanized. I don’t think they understand that you can take one unspayed female cat and one litter of kittens and they could possibly overpopulate the city with 420,000 cats in seven years.”
Since the group achieved non-profit status in March, they have hosted numerous adopt-a-pet weekends in partnership with Dallas Animal Services, usually in upscale shopping centers such as
Canter’s future goals for the organization include working in conjunction with churches, city officials and community groups to provide transportation and free spay/neuter services for families who can’t afford it, and to educate children at local schools about responsible pet ownership.
“We really want to concentrate on the spay/neuter aspect of it and getting into some of the lower income areas.”
But they can’t do it alone. Canter says the neighborhood can help by simply contributing some of their time.
“We need volunteers desperately for mobile adoptions.”
Donations also are a huge help, she says. In one incident, a couple witnessed a cat being thrown out of a car window on the highway, where two cars then hit it. The cat miraculously survived, and the organization was able to put its money to good use and pay for its medical treatment. Now, three-legged “Tiger” is doing well and is up for adoption. He has even become a kind of mascot for the group that saved him.
With enough community support, Canter hopes her organization will be able to stem the tide of overpopulation, as well as its consequences.
“I want people to be aware of the problem,” she says. “And please, get your pets spayed or neutered.”
