I AM APPALLED!!! (*long rant about rescues*)

I am absolutely livid right now. I'm posting this in General because I'd like for everyone to see how NOT to run a rescue.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a very skinny little kitty roaming around my house with no collar. I lured her to my front porch with some food and watched her scarf an entire can of cat food down - almost without breathing. She was the sweetest, most affectionate little thing and I was dying to keep her but with a newborn and having to deal with Samantha, Sushi, Kirin, Maya and Kimi adjusting to her, and her to them, it was just too overwhelming. So I called my parent's next-door neighbors, Bill and Martha, who had recently lost one of their cats and were about to lose another. They took this little kitty in and fell in love with her. The next day, Martha had her to the vet to get all the necessary vaccines. She had thought the cat might be pregnant, but the vet assured her she was not, so Martha also scheduled the kitty to be spayed.

Today was spay-day. Martha got a call mid-morning. The kitty was approximately halfway through a pregnancy! Now. Martha used to work in shelters. She knows what goes on in there. The vet asked if she wanted to abort the litter, so Martha called her husband, Bill. Bill said no, absolutely not, he couldn't do that. So the vet sewed the little kitty back up and Bill and Martha are no preparing to help her deliver them when the time comes, will keep one or two of the kittens and are hoping to find a good foster/rescue organization to help them out with the remaining kittens.

Since Martha and Bill are older and not "computer savvy", shall we say, I spent a good portion of the evening looking up and contacting animal/cat rescue organizations in the area to see if they could help us out, and if not, could point us to someone who could. Some people wrote back and were very kind, offered to help, and said to keep them posted. One person, however... you know what, I'm going to put her name and organization up here, I'm that angry. Jen, with Noah's Children, wrote back and CHASTISED me and the vet for even giving Martha the option of not aborting. (To give you an idea, the signature of Jen's e-mail reads: "Heart Attacks...God's revenge for eating His animal friends."). So I wrote back and said that it would've been in poor taste for the vet not to consult the cat's owners and just abort the litter, and that I was only trying to help the kittens have a fighting chance of finding a good home. Her response? "Oh yes, by all means, make sure the people who can't find them homes are happy."

WTF? I am asking for HELP for these poor, innocent kittens. She doesn't know the entire story, though I did try and give as much of it as I could to everyone I contacted. She doesn't know Martha and Bill. She doesn't know me. How dare she judge me - and Martha - for wanting to do what we feel is the right thing to do in this situation (the right thing for Martha and Bill is to let the kitty have the kittens, the right thing for me to do is try and help find them homes). I wrote her back, commenting on how judgemental she was and told her I'd be sure to let everyone I know how helpful she'd been. What a b*tch. I don't care if she agrees with Martha or not, she's involved in animal rescue, she's more plugged into the pipeline than I am and that's all I was asking for. You would've thought I was asking her to take full financial responsibility for this litter herself.

I'm just livid. These people are supposed to be kind, helpful people. If I were involved in rescuing and someone came to me with a similar predicament, I wouldn't make them feel like crap for their decision! Martha is a devout Catholic, she's pro-life whether it involves humans or animals. This is the right decision for her, she'll care for the cat and her kittens, she's not looking to just shove them off. She just can't keep ALL of them.

I'm sorry. I'm just really pissed.

Wow, some people :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I wonder how she is with irresponsible pet owners. She must turn quite a few people off rescuing!

Wow... with a signature line like hers, how can she even get into the whole religion thing and then demand you kill the babies? Seems contradictory to me.

Some rescues are all about ego. Some rescues really do try to help the animals. Sounds like she's all about ego.

Its people like her that give rescues bad names. Like everything in life, there are good people doing good jobs and nutty people doing horrific jobs. I have no idea what to suggest you do to get her knocked down a peg or two

Just imagine the impact this woman is having on the way people in general view animal rescue people. One lecture from her and they will tar us all with the same brush. I avoid telling people that I'm vegan unless I have to simply because they've nearly always met a vegan who pushed their agenda and so they think we are all "holier than thou" - which is also what this woman is doing with her sig. If she's so religious, she should know that in the Christian religion, and some others but I'm not sure about all, people are given the power of self-determination, choice. She seems to be opposed to this principle and believes everyone should follow her choice.

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Originally Posted by catnapper

Wow... with a signature line like hers, how can she even get into the whole religion thing and then demand you kill the babies? Seems contradictory to me.

Some rescues are all about ego. Some rescues really do try to help the animals. Sounds like she's all about ego.

Its people like her that give rescues bad names. Like everything in life, there are good people doing good jobs and nutty people doing horrific jobs. I have no idea what to suggest you do to get her knocked down a peg or two

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As soon as she got snitty with me, I thought the same thing - what a hypocrite.

And yes, it is people like her that give rescues a bad name. She's treating me like *I'm* the one that dumped her because she was pregnant, not the one who took her in and found her a forever home. Haven't heard back from her since her snippy reply last night, but I'm serious - I'll be letting everyone know to stay away from that organization. I pity the animals in her care.

Ok, pls. don't attack me. I just want to put in my two cents.
I don't agree with how the rescue Jen woman treated you, however, I kinda understand where she is coming from.
Bill and Martha should have had the vet terminate the pregnancy if they had no intention of keeping all the kitties themselves.
PS: stupid vet who couldn't tell the cat was pregnant before opening her up.

i couldnt let him terminate the pregnancy either, i would do the same thing find the homes, good homes to all thos i couldnt keep, they are doing a great thing taking this kitty in and keeping some babies also.

maybe if the mom was in real danger i could think about it.....but how dumb was he not to notice it before cutting open, we have Xrays now..........

I think it's a pretty tall order to take in ONE stray and then turn around in another week and be prepared to take in 5-6 more. Martha is 70 years old. Bill's in his upper 60s. They don't have the energy to take care of that many kittens in the manner in which they should be cared for. One or two, sure. Five or six? No.

And I'm sorry, I don't care if you (you in general, not you personally, beeniesmom) agree with the way Martha and Bill handled this or not. The fact of the matter is, this woman is involved in RESCUE and there are going to be a some kittens born that need help. I wonder how happy her God would be to see her being so nasty to people who were only trying to help the poor kitty and then didn't have the heart to kill her kittens. I could *almost* understand her disdain if Martha and Bill had been the kitty's owners all along and she got pregnant while in their care - but they're not like that. All their animals are spayed/neutered, well cared for, and loved. Martha was one of the pioneer animal rescue women in this state - hell, she is the person who found my Samantha along the side of a highway and brought her home. She has a heart of gold. She is completely fine with keeping the kittens with their mother for 8-10 weeks. She's also planning on keeping one or two of them. She just cannot handle the rest, and I think given the manner in which Katie was brought into her life, it'd be a little unfair and overwhelming for ANYONE in Martha's position.

Either way, Jen's attitude was completely uncalled for...

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Originally Posted by Samantha Puppy

I think it's a pretty tall order to take in ONE stray and then turn around in another week and be prepared to take in 5-6 more.

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I agree with you on that. It's not fair to ask anyone to do that.

I don't know what to say. It was harsh to suggest terminating the pregnancy but I do believe it may have been the right thing to do.

It will be easier to home the little kitties instead of older cats found in shelters.

Jen probably sees so much crap everyday from irresponsible people.... still no justification to act the way she did.

that rescuer sounds like an insane peta member, abusing the term 'animal rights'

First I want to say I think this Jen person could have been a bit more understanding ....... BUT.....

Kitten season has started, for anyone in rescue this time of year is one of the worst.... we just about get through the "christmas present throw aways," and we get calls to take 100's of kittens..... some born is sheds to feral moms which are usually sick, some idiot owners that let their cats have kittens and don't give a damn, then there are there car /dog/poison victims.... all of these calls go up 150% at this time of year.

When a rescue takes a litter of kittens they have to feed, house, vaccinate, microchip, and fix everyone of them.... this takes money, and I am sorry to say the $100 donation that may or may not (and usually does'nt) come in with the litter does'nt even come close to covering the expenses incurred.

Most ppl won't adopt if a rescue is charging $150 per kitten, and that is what it takes to care for each of these kittens, so most places charge about $75 max, and swallow the rest of the expense.

So what happens now...... the rescue has to decide who lives and who dies because for each one that is adopted 10 more are lined up waiting for the spot.

No kill shelters go broke at this time of year, so when you rant about shelters bare in mind if I don't work for a no kill place I have to put the needle in the vein and watch 50% to 70% of every litter brought in die. Do you have any idea what that is like day after day.

I'm lucky, we are no kill, but I have also worked for a kill shelter.

In all honesty the last thing we need at this time of year is yet another litter of kittens so aborting the litter would have been best, and the sad truth is that it is very possible the only kittens that will survive are the ones the person keeps.

You may want to let them watch this video, this is the results of just one litter.
www.safehavenrescue.com/videos/greenwalt.wmv

Taking on one or 2 cats is great and kudos to the person for taking in a stray and doing the best by her..... but what will happen once the kittens are born is another story.... who will finacially support them?... YUP that falls on the shelter.