Endless wheel at Quinte humane society

527 Avonlough Rd., Belleville.

Population: 140 cats, 45 dogs, three birds, and a lizard.

Welcome to the Quinte Humane Society.

The place is pretty busy. While SPCA agent Tex Rudder is on the phone, Bill McQuaid, an another agent, gently tries to calm down a panicked cat he just brought in. And while some volunteers help a family to choose a new cat for their home, Cheryl Belfall has to force feed a small sick kitten. “This is a quiet day,” Belfall sighs.

Animals are everywhere. Most are in cages, but many of them wander around freely. If you want to use the photocopier, you might have to move Mike, a humongous caramel cat. You should not forget to flush the toilet after you use it, because the next in might be a feline who wants to drinks the fresh water that lies in the bowl. On the couch, on the TV, under the microwave-oven, in the closet, on the chairs; there is no place in the shelter that seems to be reserved for humans. Gram might be an old dog barely able to walk, but he has yet to loses his sense of smell. Rudder could not resist the supplicant eyes of the big boy and gave him a part of his A&W burger. Animals are everywhere, even when you try to eat.

To work at the shelter is not easy job, and it does not necessarily end when your shift is over. Recently, a puppy was hurt by his mother. A scare on his torso runs from his throat to her belly. He had to be separated from her. He needs to eat every two hours. Even at night. A schedule was made and everyone add to bring the small plush-looking dog home for a night. Just like a mother who breast feeds her baby, they had to wake up several times to nourish him. Without a bonus on the paycheque.

Beatrice Erennen will be there for a couple hours. She volunteers to pets the cats. Although she is mute – and deaf – you can read on her lips. “This one and this one are best friends,” she says. “And this one is sick,” she adds. “Those four are my preferred. Here is some pictures I took”.  Her love for these hairy creatures is easily noticeable. She can sit for minutes with one cat on her lap and doing nothing but stroke him.

This Friday, the shelter’s minivan was about to leave with two cats for adoption. Ironically, Amanda Hugh and Kevin Cook had to first unload the vehicle of two garbage bags full of bodies of dead cats. A veterinarian put them to sleep early on and they will be kept in a freezer at the shelter until a company will pick them up to cremate them. No one would be surprised to hear Amanda says that it’s the part of the job she hates the most.

This kind of give and take is dealt with on a daily basis. On their last adopt-a-thon, held at a local pet store on May 28, five dogs where adopted. However, during the same day, four new dogs arrived at the shelter. “It’s kind of a hit and miss”, says Marja Smith, manager of the Quinte humane society.

Cats in, cats out. Dogs in, dogs out. The Quinte humane society seems to be part of the mechanism of a gigantic endless wheel.