Is it me? Why more support for dog rescue than cat rescue?

[furlong47]

[QUOTE=LauraO;8880258]
Doesn’t anyone here like BOTH cats and dogs? Why does it have to be one or the other? [/QUOTE]

I like both, and in fact I do actually prefer dogs a bit more. But right now I have only a cat because he fits my lifestyle better (renting and travel a lot). When I eventually buy a house, I would like to have both a dog and a cat (one of each is enough, or maybe a dog and two cats, but no more than that) and will need a more regular pet sitter for when I go away and cannot take the dog with me.

[StGermain]

Here in Middle Tennessee, things are looking up. Here’s an article from December which shows the adoption rates for both dogs and cats have gone up and the euth rates are down, but cats are still euthanized much more than dogs.

Gregory started in 2011 alongside PAWS’ first full-time veterinarian. Having a veterinarian and the ability to spay/neuter all adoptions is critical, because it renders shelters eligible for enhancement grants. Gregory and his staff have lowered the euthanasia rate for dogs from 50 percent to 29 percent and for cats from 86 percent to 68 percent over the past five years, due in part to a spay/neuter program and a newly hired part-time public relations manager who has increased public awareness of the shelter. Still, not enough people take advantage of the spay/neuter program at PAWS, Gregory says.

While euthanasia for space has gone down to “almost nothing” for dogs, Gregory says cats are a different story.

For one thing, more rescue groups exist to give dogs a second chance for adoption. For another, a law bans both feral dogs and cats in Rutherford, rather than just dogs as in most counties. Thus by law, community cats in Rutherford must be automatically euthanized, and PAWS can’t participate in a trap-neuter-return program to reduce kitten intake. Of PAWS’ euthanized cats, about half last year were feral. The other half consisted of adoptable cats and kittens.

StG

[redalter]

I am going to try to be more vocal and involved than even now to try to raise awareness and get more people to become kitty lovers!

[Coanteen]

There’s also the way cats are managed and portrayed. Yes sure, some peoples’ cats are trained, interact in a more structured way like a dog would, etc.

But that’s not what shelters highlight. Training/trainability is highlighted for the dogs, and people looking for a pet imagine themselves doing x or y with their dog (is he suitable for this activity? Can I go jogging with him? etc).

For cats, they pretty much tell you if it likes to be petted, and if it’s ok with kids/ other pets in the household. The assumption is that you won’t be doing anything with it, it’ll just…be there.

I think that’s why some people liked Bengals so much (other than the cool color). They’re not even top of the list for most trainable, but they were heavily marketed as a trainable, do-stuff-with cat.

And I agree that the feral colonies, outdoor cats etc feed into making cats less of a priority in the public’s mind. That’s why cats keep getting “dropped off” near barns and the like - people just assume that

1. they’re perfectly fine living out there, and
2. it’s acceptable to do that (since colonies are accepted and supported by many humane groups, so it must be fine).

Not to say colonies shouldn’t be supported, but it does go to the mindset of “dogs must have a person, cats … meh, it’ll be fine being a not-quite-pet and just having some food laid out for it outside”.