Caleb Nickerson
SHAWVILLE Dec. 8, 2017
On Friday, around 40 people gathered for lunch at the former Masonic Hall in Shawville to support the work of Animal Aide Pontiac.
The organization is made up of a handful of volunteers that provides a public service by temporarily housing stray or neglected animals as well as providing financial assistance for spaying and neutering cats.
“The point is, there are people that are feeding these [stray] animals because they think it’s such a great thing to do, but you have to make sure you don’t let them breed,” said the group’s President Mary Pressman, who said her goal is to educate people about responsible pet ownership.

She added that some owners end up with more kittens than they can handle and give away the kittens too soon, which can lead to problems down the road.
“Sometimes if you take the cat away from its mother and its siblings too early, you have a cat with possible behaviour issues,” she said.
In addition to getting turkey on a bun for lunch, attendees could browse the wide assortment of baked goods that were being sold, buy an Animal Aide t-shirt or purchase tickets for the “money tree,” with all proceeds going to further the group’s work.
Pressman asserted that by increasing public awareness about the services offered by the group, they could hope to curb some of the hardship caused by careless pet owners, as housing the animals is only a temporary solution.
“We’ve got to work on these other issues,” she said.