Stray cats that roam the campus may not be spayed or neutered and may not even have had rabies shots, making them dangerous to people that come into contact with them.
In Raleigh, about 3,000 stray animals are adopted every year, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Luckily for members of the community, there are animal shelters in place that take in these stray animals and attempt to vaccinate them and set them up for adoption.
Some N.C. State pre-vet students spend time volunteering at these shelters. The opportunity to gain both experience in a clinic and volunteer for the community is too beneficial to pass up, according to Kyle Maddox, a freshman in zoology.
“It’s a great way to learn the proper techniques necessary to become a veterinarian, and it’s wonderful because there is not enough attention brought to the animal shelters,” he said. “They’re not well enough funded and they run mostly off of donations and volunteers, so bringing more awareness to them is the best we can do.”
Katherine Guess, a freshman in zoology, said she volunteers at the Oberlin Animal Hospital every weekend. She said her job entails feeding, walking, and cleaning the cages of the animals, and at times giving them medications and shots.
“People bring in strays all the time, at least one a day,” Guess said. “If they have the microchip, we call the owners, and if not we keep them here for a few weeks. If they’re not adopted by then, we send them to the SPCA where they can get adopted by others.”
Some do not realize the emotional aspect of working at an animal shelter, Guess said.
“It’s a lot harder have to put them down. It’s hard to see, especially if we’ve gotten to know them.”
But there are ways to prevent this from happening.
The Vet School offers a free spay and neuter clinic as well that will help with breeding strays, according to its Web site.
They also offer a microchip id program to the community, which helps to reunite lost pets with their owners and, in turn, reduces the amount of strays on the streets.
