Berkeley, CA-old blind cat *kill shelter*

[critters]

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=11883&p=61099#p61099

[critters]

She's now mega URGENT--they want to kill her NOW; she has a few hours at most. :( Is anybody nearby?

[sasvermont]

She does look uncomfortable, at best. I know this might not be what you want to hear, but maybe she needs to end her misery and go to the bridge. Not every kitty can be saved. Her eyes look dreadful.

She looks as though she has had a rough time out there in the streets.

I hope someone steps up to the plate and tries a little more to save her, but gee, it seems like such a stretch.

I wish I lived closer.

Poor baby.

[Giselle]

Oh, poor girl. I am close enough but there is absolutely no way I can take her in. Both Giselle and Ivy have extremely high prey drives and I'm currently dog-sitting for my friend's dog (so that makes us a 4 dog household right now).



I do have to say though... Berkeley Animal Care Services (if that's what they mean by "Berkeley city shelter") should not be labeled a kill shelter. I've volunteered there for ~2 years and they try everything they can to avoid euthanasia. If quality of life becomes a serious issue, they will exhaust all resources and options before even considering euthanasia. I don't know if any of you saw the story of Kyle the Malinois/mix, but his quality of life at the shelter was deteriorating rapidly and he was seriously mentally suffering. The normal protocol of a kill shelter would be to euthanize. Kyle was found a foster home with a breed rescue after MUCH string-pulling. BACS is not a kill shelter by any means. It may be that we are only hearing half the story. The woman who posted about this cat is in the 805 area code, which is a LONG way from here. She may not have seen the cat or seen it undergo a thorough vet exam. If the cat has other seriously underlying issues aside from her eye problems, perhaps it is best for the girl to be humanely euthanized. Sorry. I adore BACS, and it's a little upsetting to see it labeled a "kill shelter".

[critters]

It turns out "she" is actually a he, and he's been pulled for fostering!

I don't see anything deadly terrible with his eyes, just some inflammation and a desperate need for a bath!! He probably has some scarring from chronic herpes, which isn't unusual; my Polly's eye tends to look worse than that, but similar. He certainly doesn't have eyes glued together with gobs of green or yellow pusball goobies.

[catmandu]

I WISH I COULD TAKE THAT POOR CAT INTO THE FOUND CAT HOTEL.
I REMEMBER WHEN SMOKEY:love:AND ORANGE BLOSSOM:love: STARTED TO LOSE THIER SIGHT, AND THEY WOULD LEAD EACH OTHER TO THE FOOD DISHES.:cool::cool::love:THEN WHEN ORANGE BLOSSOM PASSED ON, THE OTHER CATS WOULD TAKE TURNS LEADING SMOKEY TO THE FOOD AND LITTER BOXES.
THAT WAS TRULY SO TOUCHING TO SEE!
I HOPE SOMEONE GIVES HIM A FURREVER HOME:love: , SO HE CAN PASS ON AS A PET CAT:love:, NOT A STRAY.

[TenHouseCats]

any shelter that doesn't have enough room for the number of feral and unwanted cats it takes in, no matter how much it might WANT to do better, ends up being a kill shelter. some of us have been working with this shelter ourselves, recently, and have seen them be very willing to work with special-needs cats, which is an amazing thing indeed--but across the country, shelters tend to do much better with dogs than they do with cats.

you're clearly a dog person, which means that your shelter experience is probably quite different than that of full-time cat rescuers. dog people would be screaming if shelters killed dogs at the rate they kill feral and stray cats--i'm not saying that they all want to, but they do, for space, for lack of understanding that hissing and scratching can mean terrified as well as vicious, for lack of contact with the extensive TNR and rescue resources available. check out the figures for this shelter, too, please. ask how they determine which cat is adoptable and which isn't? then come work WITH us.

just as there are many levels of meaning in the term, "no-kill," there are all sorts of things implied by the appellation, "kill"--it does NOT necessarily mean that it's a heartless, uncaring place, it can mean, and appears to in this instance, a place that is doing the best that it can without sufficient resources to actually become what we'd all like ALL organizations to become--truly no-kill.

http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/

[dashoftruth]

BACS is a pretty good shelter, considering its size and budget, to be sure. But that does not mean it's not a kill shelter. At least four "feral" cat were PTS last month because they were deemed a threat to workers, etc., and that does not mean that they deserve to die, even if they truly are feral.
Arguing over semantics is missing the point. There are animals who need help. And does the shelter doing everything in its power to prevent animals from being PTS not include volunteers posting info everywhere to see if they might have a chance?
This cat is a stray. Judging him by his picture is not a good way to tell if he's doing well or not. Their quality is terrible and the lighting is just as bad. His eyes are obviously not great (he's blind in the one with scarring), but he's eating, drinking, walking, talking, purring, etc. Why shouldn't he get a chance at living a healthy life, or at least spending a little extra time in a real home? I'd just rather see the results of a blood test before determining if the cat is "suffering" unless it's incredibly obvious, like the cat is jaundice, can't walk at all, or is going into agonal breathing.
This guy needs a LOT of TLC, but for the number of times I've seen cats PTS because they are deemed to be suffering, I've seen at least an equal number of cats who have come back from fatty liver, kidney issues, etc. to live years after shelters say a cat needs to or should die.
But honestly, the lives of these animals are more important than any label, snap judgment, or difference of opinion in euth policies.
So if anyone can help him out, please do so.

[mumpkees]

A cat was in a shelter. A cat needed rescue. The cat was posted to this forum by a rescuer needing help. The rescuer knew the cat was running out of time and pulled the cat herself. The cat is now safe, but the rescuer now needs our help. She needs our moral support, our experience, a foster or permanent home and financial assistance with his vet care.

Each one of us comes to these forums and groups because of a common reason - we all love cats, dogs, other creatures. We all want to do everything we can to stop the overpopulation, the breeding mills, the cruelty and abuse, the shelters filled to overflowing and the subsequent killing of animals who by no fault of theirs have ended up there.

However, each one of us comes to these forums with different viewpoints, ideals and values. As such, each of us has a different feeling of what is right, what is wrong, how much is too much, how much is not enough. But time spent arguing amongst ourselves because we feel our personal values have been stepped on and we've been chastised for being wrong is time wasted where we could be working to do what we came to these forums for - saving lives and bettering things for all the homeless.

To some, this stray cat who looks horrible, may have an infected eye, kidney, thyroid or diabetes, is a bag of bones, putting him out of his misery seems like the best and kindest thing to do. To others who have literally pulled cats and dogs from the jaws of death, this is a cat in need of someone who cares and is willing to do everything they can to help him. At the very least, should his health and condition be beyond saving him, he will be helped to cross by someone who cares and will show him the only act of kindness and love he may have ever had in his life.

Sadly, the inclination to 'label' things is easy. I don't think anyone is intentionally labelling this shelter a 'kill shelter'. As MC said, several of us have recently been working with this shelter and they are doing as much as they can and are working with rescue to help those in their care. There are good shelters, bad shelters, shelters with wonderful employees and shelter walkers who do everything they can to help as many animals as possible - they post to groups, email networks - they call rescues to tell them about a special favorite. Unfortunately, there are shelters on the opposite end of the spectrum.

But even shelters that are labelled 'no kill' have only two choices - because of the thousands that come to their doors every year. If they want to remain no kill after they fill up within weeks of opening, they must not take in any more until those there are adopted. We know that there are not enough private rescues, fosters, forever homes to ever adopt all that find themselves in any kind of shelter. As sad and terrible as it is, no kill shelters if they are ever to take in any more must adopt or must make the horrible decision to kill those they know will never be adopted. So even the no kill shelters eventually kill.

All of us have very busy lives - work, family, our own furkids. But if we are to ever make a change in what we try to turn a blind eye to (what really is happening and how many are being killed), it means that each and every one of us - our friends, our vets, our community, our city leaders, our shelter management - must do something positive to help fix a problem that truly has become a crisis - too many being born, not enough homes, too many being killed. If we truly care and want to make a difference so that all shelters can become no kill and eventually there will be no need for shelters, we must all do something.

We must educate ourselves to the situation - personally go to our own city's shelters - see what is going on, look at the statistics. Get mad when you see the real truth of how many never left thru the front door. We can donate our time - shelters are always begging for volunteers to pet the cats and help calm them, socialize and walk the dogs. We can donate toys, food, blankets - things to make the animals comfortable. We can donate funds after checking to make sure that the money we are donating is truly going to the care of animals and not to pay large salaries.

The lady who adores BACS - that is great! Shelters need people who have been there, have been involved and will let others know that they are trying to do the right thing. They are lucky to have someone like you and I bet they wish you'd bring two friends with you.

It is a sad fact that cats fair much worse in a shelter environment because they are hard to read. Cats are much more frightened by the noise and smells. A docile housecat often when taken to their vet reacts as if they are what people think of as feral behaviour. Actually what you are witnessing is pure unadulterated fear. And any cat who isn't rubbing against the bars purring but rather cowering in the back of the cage or lashing out w/ teeth and claws in fear is labelled feral and chances are very good they will be killed.

MC isn't trying to start an incident - she like many of us is just trying to help others understand what happens in shelters. Until we all do know and understand, it is all too easy to believe what we've been told - every kitty and doggy taken to the shelter will find a wonderful home - sadly statistically this is far from the truth. MC offered an invitation to work with us to change this - I hope others take us up on it.
/mari
p.s. it is hard to tell where a person is located now by area code. Cell phone numbers go with the individual and people living in Houston can have California area codes.