Ignorance or Stupidity?

Recently, my housekeeper asked me for help in rehoming her cat because he was "peeing everywhere". After spending about 30 minutes with her and asking all the relevant questions: "Did you change the litter? Location of the box? Does he have a Urinary Tract Infection?" I realized she had never gotten the little guy neutered! *UGH* She was thrilled a week later when she had him neutered and he no longer pee'd on anything. It all seems so obvious to me.
Yesterday, I responded to a post on Craigslist from someone trying to rehome a "persian/russian blue mix" - 6 month old kitten. This is how the thread of e-mails went:

Beth: Hi! Why are you rehoming this darling sounding kitten?

Jonas: hi Beth,,,me and my wife adopted 2 kittens and ask the owners to give us Both Females,,,about a month ago we noticed that one of them is in fact a male because of obvious reasons,,,his balls started getting more visible,,,lol,,,unfortunately,,,we dont want them to start doing it because they are brother and sister,,,,so one has to go,,,,you must understand,,,he is our baby and would only go to a good home.

Beth: Hi Jonas! Why don't you get him neutered? :) Then you don't have to worry about it! :)

Jonas: im sorry,,,,its not that,,,,its the fact that they are siblings,,,i just dont want that,,,

Beth: Is he a friendly boy? I can take him into my rescue if you really need help. But if you have him neutered, you don't have to worry about them mating. I feel sorry for him - they've been together their whole lives and now you want to split them up. They'll both probably be very depressed to be separated. If you don't want them mating, just get him neutered. It's so easy!

Jonas: so your saying is that,,,if we get him neutered and spayed,,,,they wont mate,,,,not at all?????is this true???

Beth: Yes...that's true! If you get him neutered, he will not be interested in mating with her. :) Where do you live? I can recommend a good vet in your area.

Jonas: thats very good,,,i live in brampton,,,by city centre,,,if thats the case,,,then keeping him is ok,,,thank you so much.

So it was that easy. Jonas called me, he's taking his beloved cat "Smooshy" to the vets next week to get him neutered. He was absolutely THRILLED that he gets to keep both of his cats and prevent "incest". I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.

I believe educating people is half the battle with pet overpopulation. As a rescue organization, we're so quick to judge people. But sometimes it's just plain ignorance.

But then again...sometimes...they just don't give a shit.