I want to thank Dwana for taking care of animals that have been cast aside. What a compassionate and important thing to do. As president of the Palo Alto Humane Society, I would like to invite Dwana to join our CatWorks Program, for some spay/neuter assistance for homeless and feral cats. "Spay that stray;" that is a motto of the Palo Alto Humane Society. We encourage everyone to take some sense of responsibility for animals in need. We also encourage everyone to spay their dog or cat. Unspayed pets become the source of stray animals that are left to fend for themselves or die at the shelter. Thanks to reporter Sue Dremann for covering this issue.

I'm confused by the Palo Alto Humane Society president's message. The Palo Alto Humane Society CatWorks program, whose volunteers reached into the community to trap, neuter, and return feral cats, remove, rehabilitate, and find homes for feral kittens, was discontinued in March 2005, and the volunteers who worked within that program with PAHS started Peninsula CatWorks to continue that mission.

Although the PAHS website indicates that Peninsula CatWorks was formed to do the "adoption" program, that is the very end result of many hours of trapping, working with people in the community, fostering, medical expenses, socialization, and prioritizing and responding to many emergency requests. PAHS does not provide a phone number on their web site any more, so I am confused about how one would join?

While the Palo Alto Humane Society continues to provide a small amount of low-cost spay/neuter vouchers, they do not provide trapping assistance or volunteers to assist in their continuing "Catworks" program, so again, the message is confusing.

Dwana, thank you for taking individual responsibility for the strays in your environment, which was one of the prime points of Sue Dremann's article. It is difficult to think of these poor creatures as "belonging" to you individually -- but by spaying and neutering you are enhancing the quality and duration of their lives. This is a problem everywhere, no just the Peninsula, and your action shows your concern for other sentient creatures.

I appreciate the opportunity to clarify the Palo Alto Humane Society's program for Michele and others interested. The Palo Alto Humane Society (PAHS) does indeed continue to spay and neuter homeless cats through its long established CatWorks Program. In 2005 PAHS provided generous funding to help establish Peninsula Catworks to do adoptions, while PAHS continues to concentrate on helping people get animals spayed--as we have done for more than 30 years. For information on CatWorks or on low-income spaying or neutering of cats, dogs, or rabbits, contact PAHS at (650) 424-1901.

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