No good deed goes unpunished

I volunteer at a shelter in rural Ohio. Despite our best efforts and many low cost/free spay/neuter programs an average of 500 cats get dumped here every week from March through October. We're out in the sticks, and our adoption numbers reflect that. A week with 25 adoptions is huge for us. Our charter with the town does not allow us to refuse any cats brought in, we even have a drop-off area set up where people can leave them. (This beats finding them frozen stiff in winter or microwaved in closed boxes in summer, at least.)

Anyway, given the 500 admissions vs. 25 adoptions per week, it's pretty easy to guess what happens to the other 475 cats. We've been working really hard to set up a foster program to save as many as possible - give them places to live while we do their shots, surgery, testing, flea control and deworming. Still, the number of lovely and adoptable cats and kittens we have to euthanize each day for simple lack of foster homes and shelter space is sickening.

Two weeks ago I happened to see a tiny tortie arm waving from the front of a carrier with a "Euth: No Foster" tag attached to it. Having a soft spot for anything of the tortie genre, I peered into the carrier to find a four week old tortie kitten and her pure white mommy. Next thing I knew, I was tip-toe-ing out the back door with the carrier, while our feline director rolled her eyes and predicted dire consequences for not following the rules.

This week Kitten was six weeks old, so I tried bringing them in through the foster program. I had had Mom FeLV/FIV tested before I brought them into my house, but to my amazement Kitten's FeLV test showed up a weak positive. Mom's test was again negative. They even pulled a second sample from Kitten and re-ran it with the same result.

I've seen positive moms with negative kittens, but never a nursing kitten who was positive while Mom was negative. I'm keeping them for a month, then re-testing. If Kitten is still positive she'll have to be euthanized. I'm just hoping they'll spare her mom, or that Kitten's test - which was weak - will turn negative.

Chances are the kitten is also negative. It is quite common for kittens to test a false positive if they are tested before 10 weeks of age. I'd wait till the baby turns 10 weeks before testing her again.

OMG...I just wish there was a way to change that huge imbalance between dumps and adoptions...

I just get heartsick thinking about it.

Does your organization send "foster homes wanted" notices to vets and other communities?

I would love to foster here...but not til I am out of a 2 bdrm condo...

That tortie is so adorable...and mom is sheer beauty...

thank you for saving them...

Catty1

Oh, it's terrible with all those poor cats that people just rid themselves of as if they were dead things and not living creatures. :( It is a huge problem everywhere, I think, especially during summer.

Still, I think they are better off being left at a shelter than they would be if people just threw them out in the street and left them to die slowly from hunger or disease. I guess one has to think of it that way?

I'm glad that you bent the rules a little :) and good luck!

Lots of love,
Sus and Bella

Mama and baby are beautiful. Mama looks so contented laying there with her baby.

I use to help out at our shelter that was a kill shelter and I had to quit doing it, those cats would haunt me. I couldn't handle seeing such wonderful, healthy, sweet animals that only wanted to be loved, distroyed day after day..

Yeah, it really tears me up - probably why I bend the rules every once in awhile. Most of us do, and that is probably what keeps us sane. Last night I saw one of the guys leaving with what looked like an outbreak of tumors under his shirt. A few minutes later I realized the litter of 5 that had fallen just shy of the accepted weight requirement were missing. I'm expecting him to show up in a few weeks with a litter of 5 kittens 'found in his barn' or somesuch - all of whom will easily make the weight & health requirements.

Besides the cat and kitten, my own 'dumpster diving' has brought me Roland, the light of my life. He is missing an eye and has a chronic snort, which put him into the 'unadoptable' category. The world's loss is my gain, even on those mornings I wake up unable to walk because 10 pounds of Roland has just spent 8 hours curled up on the small of my back.

What a sweet little thing Roland is. I'm glad one of your cohorts was able to smuggle the babies out so they can be plumped up and deemed "adoptable". Rules ARE made to be broken, right???

Roland is gorgeous, so is the white mom and torti baby. I hope the baby will test neg next time.

I'm so glad that people like you are able to help. I wish I could but I think I would have been locked away already if I had to see that many animals put down weekly.

Keep on "bending" the rules!

It breaks my heart to think of healthy loving cats being put down. If only there were more no-kill shelters and more resources to keep these cats alive. I really believe in aggressive spay-neuter programs that need to be taught at schools, churches, and throughout the community. It's really unfair to kill animals like this. Something must be done. People with resources and leverage who care about animals need to be contacted. Why isn't more being done?

WWW.savingshelterpets.com is where I have found my peace! This is a forum online with over 500+ members basically, Saving Shelter Pets. I am disqusted how America is such a throw away society. Legislation needs to be changed. With everyone running around trying to save the animals that are urgent in shelters, we need others to work on passing a law which requires spay and neuter for all cats and dogs. If you want to breed then strict breeding guidelines need to be created in every state. Many people are working towards resolving pet overpopulation but it will not happen overnight. However, if you look at the numbers reported of animals PTS in shelters, it has declined. Problem is, this is a huge universal issue. When issues are that large it is so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just do what you can. I cry over kitties in shelters across the country from me! I see a picture and I melt. My motherly instict sets in and I become severly depressed knowing animals are euth'd everyday.

Update on Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Cass (the white mom cat) decided to go into heat. Since Rommie was pretty much weaned we got Cass spayed on Friday. I took Rommie along and got her re-tested. Her FeLV and FIV came back negative!

She was also (finally!!) old enough to hit her and Mom both with Advantage. It had been breaking my heart being relegated to light doses of flea powder while Rommie was nursing and watching them both scratch.

This week I'll start them through the foster program at the shelter. They'll spay Rommie, finish up vaccinations on both of them and admit them when there is 'room in the inn'. Since they already have a foster home, they are no longer in danger of euthanasia.

Prayers are coming for that Tortie Baby, to be negative in her tests.
And its going to come I fear to a point where stray Cats will be killed on the spot as they are in Isreal, as there are just too many homeless Cats and Dogs.
That will be a very Sad Day.