Stray cats and dogs are becoming a problem in many towns and cities across the world. The issue is that we all love having cats and dogs as pets but if they get pregnant they often have large litters and people don’t know what to do with them. Most people have too much heart to kill these animals but don’t have the ability to look after them either. Stray cats and dogs are a problem that we all created. That cat or dog that you see on the street was once a pet or is the offspring of an animal that was once a pet. These strays continue to breed in the wild so the numbers just get worse and worse. You really should get your cat or dog neutered so that there is no chance of you contributing to this problem in the future. These stray cats and dogs are an issue in so many ways but one thing that few think about is that no one is there to care for these animals. One man tried to do something to help.
Philip Rogich noticed that there quite a few stray cats in the area of his hometown. Instead of complaining about them, he worried about them. He realized that the nights were getting colder and colder and that many of these stray cats may not survive the winter. He looked around his house and found an old cooler in his garage. He used a drill to create a hole in the front of the cooler and put some pipe insulation around the hole to ensure it wasn’t too sharp at the edges. He then lay some hay inside and left the cooler outside.
The stray cats loved the cooler but Philip quickly realized that there were far more cats than one simple cooler could provide for. He started to share his idea with locals and he was soon inundated with spare coolers. To date, he has made over 150 cooler houses for stray cats in his area and across Utah. Even more impressive is that he posted about the coolers on Facebook and the post quickly went viral. Now, these cooler houses are popping up all over America.
If you have a spare cooler in your home or know someone that does. You should really consider converting it into a comfortable home for a stray animal. Please make sure that there are stray animals in your area first though. The last thing you want to do is create an inviting home for pests in the area. At least the strays keep the pest population low so providing them with a comfortable home makes sense.
The stray problem is one that will not go away overnight. As these strays are not neutered they will continue to breed and produce even more cats and dogs over time. In many developing countries like India, Malaysia, and Brazil the population of strays has become so large that they have become a way of life. The stray dogs travel in packs and can be quite aggressive in some areas. The stray cats can take over entire areas. We all need to work together to solve this issue but in the meantime, we need to take care of these animals.
The cooler idea from Philip Rogich is a simple idea that takes something he doesn’t need and makes something incredibly useful for an animal that does. It is time that we all started to think outside the box of how we can help others with the excess in our lives. A fine example by Philip has been set.
