Pasta will help pooches get neutered

By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

August 31, 2008 11:39 pm

— ASHTABULA — Diane Carr said good-bye to 96 tails, 384 paws and countless whiskers in July, happily waving cats of all shapes, sizes and colors off to new homes.
Placing cats in homes is the happy part of Carr’s work with the Ashtabula County Animal Protective League, but paying for their placement is another story.
“The $5 cat sale was a huge success, no doubt,” said Carr, APL board president. “But in that the shelter took a financial hit. The cost of veterinary care for those cats far, far exceeded the $5 adoption fee.”
Carr estimates each cat costs the shelter $150 in veterinary fees. Dogs can cost as much as $200 each to alter and vaccinate.
To further the APL’s mission to spay and neuter every adoptable stray animal, the shelter will hold the second annual Spayghetti Dinner from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at Bethany Lutheran Church, 933 Michigan Ave.
Pasta cook and APL volunteer David Shimp will stir up pots of spaghetti with marinara sauce. The meal includes meatballs or mushrooms, salad, dinner roll, butter, dessert and beverages. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Children under 2 years old eat free. A silent auction, 50/50 raffle and door prizes will be held.
Proceeds benefit the APL spay/neuter program, Carr said.
Shimp said he is looking forward to the event, which raised $3,000 for the shelter last year.
“Everyone had a good time last year and that was when we were a shelter in crisis,” Shimp said. “We were looking at closing our doors for good and needed the money. Now we can plug the funds into the spay/neuter program.”
Carr said the APL board of directors is committed to the stray population reduction for cats and dogs in Ashtabula County and have their eyes on the long-term prize.
“We understand, boy do we understand, that the stray animal problem is not going to just go away,” Carr said. “It will take years and years to see a marked difference from this program, but we are committed and we will work to keep that population down as much as possible.”
Tickets to the Spayghetti Dinner are available at the APL shelter, 5970 Green Road, Kingsville; the APL mall store, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays at Ashtabula Mall, or at www.spayghetti.acapl.net.