To the editor:

I am a person with a lot of responsibilities, though not necessarily more than other people have. Still, I find myself with more to do and more to pay for than there are hours or dollars to do it with.

Now I find myself burdened with someone else’s responsibility and I’m steaming mad. While walking my dogs last weekend, I found two stray kittens.

Since they allowed me to approach them and pick them up it was obvious they were not “just” feral. I brought them home for the night with the intension of contacting WAIF to see if someone had reported them lost. If not, I planned to take them to the shelter. They are very cute, sweet kittens — very adoptable.

These kittens are litter-box trained, so don’t tell me they’re feral kittens or that their mother was probably a feral cat.

Obviously someone dumped them at the school. Someone who is irresponsible, careless and cruel.

Don’t tell me “Oh, I couldn’t afford to keep them” or “I couldn’t find them homes.” You should have had your cat spayed. On Monday, two more kittens were found at the same location.

Well, WAIF is currently unable to take any more cats; none. Due to funding cuts and over population of homeless pets, I find myself with two kittens that I cannot afford to keep. I already have two dogs and a cat. For those of you who are “responsible” pet owners, you know how expensive pets are. WAIF is asking people who find strays to foster them in their own homes. WAIF is able to offer some limited assistance to those willing to foster by supplying some food.

There are programs that provide inexpensive spaying services. Some are even free. WAIF can help you locate these services.

Go to a free clinic and it will cost you only the round-trip ferry ride.

Or use the services of Oasis in Langley who will take your cat, with several others to one of these clinics, bring them back to you and charge you only $20.

If you can’t afford to spend $20 to spay your cat, then don’t have a cat. You’ll spend more that on food in just a few months, not to mention shots and other veterinarian services.

So, to you, “careless” pet owner, I suppose you’ll sleep great tonight while I worry about the sweet kittens in the cage in my garage. The ones I now feel responsible for. The ones I’m trying to find a home for. The ones I’m feeding and buying ear mite medicine for even though I’m seriously under-employed but somehow manage to responsibly care for my pets — and now yours too. Oh, I get it now. That was your plan all along, wasn’t it?

Marsha Sloan

Clinton