In reply to the story about the man with the kitten:
Our local humane society will not take stray animals of any type. They will only take animals if you say that it is your pet and you are relinquishing it. We tried taking the mutt we found last summer to the humane society (which is no-kill) and they refused him because he was a stray. We tried a couple of weeks later, and said that he was our dog, and they said they would take him. (We changed our minds and decided to rehome him on our own).
I know many people who love dogs, but would not try to rescue a stray, simply because they know the shelters won't take them!