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Sooke animal rescue group needs homes for 28 kittens

Rescued cats were pregnant; kittens ready for adoption
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Snow White and one of her kittens. (Contributed/SAFARS)

Are you looking for a kitten? There are 28 in Sooke who need forever homes along with three mother cats.

The fluff balls are the offspring of about 10 cats rescued while pregnant by the Sooke Animal Food and Rescue Society (SAFARS), run by Margarita Dominguez.

The kittens are a few weeks old, have had their first round of vaccines and are ready for adoption. Three of the mothers are also up for adoption. Two mothers have already been adopted, and three will be returned to their wild colonies after they recover from being spayed.

Dominguez is passionate about the abandoned cats around Sooke, visiting five colonies between East Sooke and Port Renfrew every day, with help from volunteers. She’s been doing it for 10 years, but cat reproduction’s mathematics makes it extremely hard to make a dent in the population. According to the BCSPCA, one female cat and her kittens can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.

This week Dominguez hoping to rescue two more pregnant cats and five feral kittens. It takes up to two weeks to save a wild feline, she said. They take about that long to get used to the food, the people and the crate used to transport them.

Dominguez cautions against buying kittens from so-called backyard breeders. They sell the kittens cheaply, and many people don’t plan for the high cost of spaying or neutering pets. Otter Point vet in Sooke said it could range from $150 to $450 to spay a cat, depending on what other needs a cat has.

Unexpected bills are one reason people abandon cats, unsterilized, contributing to the feral colonies.

That’s why SAFARS’ adoption fee goes directly to the vet as a pre-payment for spaying or neutering the kitten when they’re old enough, as well as the second and third vaccinations.

To find out what kittens are available, contact Dominguez at safars.org@hotmail.com, or visit safars.org/adoptions.


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