WHAT IS “SPAY IT FORWARD”?

 

In the movie “Pay It Forward”, the young hero believes he can change the world by helping 3 people who really need it. The catch? They have to pay him back by helping 3 other strangers. Even though it seems he fails at first, his acts of kindness start a domino effect of selflessness, awareness to the needs of others and that special sense of accomplishment that comes when you give without expectation of return.

 

Heaven Can Wait started Spay It Forward with the hope of inspiring others to step outside their comfort zone and offer help to a stranger. It started with 3 local families, none of whom I knew personally, but all needing to have their family pet altered. I offered to pay half their surgery if they could come up with the other half themselves. In return, I asked for their commitment to help out a friend, neighbor or even stranger to have their pet altered within the next year, or whenever they had a little bit of extra money.

 

The first comment I received was “Why should I help someone I don’t know?” My answer was “I don’t know you, but you asked for help and I gave it. Could you not do the same for someone else?”

 

I started Heaven Can Wait because I wanted to help the community and the animals within it. I wanted to change the world, or at least my corner of it! I know we only have the resources to reach a fraction of the animals who need help, and this includes animals with owners who just don’t have the extra money to take care of spay/neutering their pet.

 

Cat overpopulation is a community issue, and I suppose I still believe in the kindness of man to each other and to our companion animals. Please help make a difference by your actions, by helping, and by reaching out to someone who needs it.

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If you need help having your cat altered, please call us on 403-601-2520. We have a short form that needs to be filled out and taken to one of the participating vets to have your spay/neuter done. It's quick, easy and the right thing to do.

 

 

HOW CAN I HELP?

 

Spay It Forward is an idea meant to make ourselves more aware of what is going on around us. This simple concept seems to me to be actually quite profound. In today’s world of overachievement, ambition and selfishness, I believe we have become too busy for sharing our compassion and empathy, certainly towards animals but also towards each other.

 

Do you have a neighbor who you know has let their female have litter after litter? Maybe someone you’ve heard about who really cares for their cat but has no money right now to spay her? A familiar neighborhood stray who could really use someone to care about him? Start by talking. It’s that simple. “I see your cat has had another litter of kittens. I’d like to help you get her spayed.” Urge them to contact one of our local clinics to set up an appointment. Then send your part of the payment to the clinic on behalf of that person and their pet, or drop in, say hello to the staff and deliver your part of the cost in person. Half the cost is approximately $100 - $300 depending on the clinic.

 

Spay It Forward can work if the recipients of kindness also help someone down the road, and even if some cannot or for some reason, choose not, I believe there are more who will, and a small step towards controlling overpopulation has taken place.

 

For every cat spayed, literally thousands of births are prevented over the lifetime of the animal and their subsequent offspring. Thousands. Because cats reproduce at exponential rates, even spaying one cat makes a huge difference. Less cats become a shelter statistic, less cats suffer through a short lifetime filled with hunger, searching for shelter, endless reproduction and premature deaths. And ultimately, less unwanted cats struggling to find decent homes.