>>>>when did we decide that a newspaper version of ANYTHING is accurate and fair? what sells papers? "woman overwhelmed with departed cats; living ones in good shape?"<<<<
I know nothing about the case except what I read here on the list, and as MaryChristine points out you certainly cannot take newspaper articles as gospel---they're always slanted, it's the nature of the business. So, I feel unqualified to weigh in, apart from to thank MaryChristine for a well-balanced and carefully considered reminder of all the factors that should be taken into account. Kerry -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of TenHouseCats Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 2:50 PM To: FeLVTalk Subject: KittyKind as a symbol--LONG LONG response! okay, here goes--this has been in draft form for a number of hours now..... i know it won't be popular, i just hope that it does make people stop for a bit and maybe challenge themselves. while i am not in ny/nj area, and have no personal experience with KittyKind, i have heard excellent things about this shelter/group from folks who are from what i gather, marlene took home the sickly ones--the ones none of the other rescues would touch. the sick, the elderly, the severely abused before they reach our care--these cats DIE, with heart-wrenching regularity. and no one who hasn't accepted the care of a large number of the most-unfortunate seem to face that reality. and how many have ever thought about what THEY would do, in the winter, in the north, with the earthly remains of these finally-free cats? no one seems to notice that they didn't remove the living cats from her custody--even if i didn't have a real understanding of how these things can happen--that would be enough for me to question how terrible the conditions/her care really were. 38 cats in one room? well, depends on the size of the cats, the size of the room, the number of litter boxes, the number of windows, the ventilation, the toys/cat-trees, the number of volunteers who come in to cuddle and clean. having a roof over their heads, regular food and water, observant medical care, playtime and affection--to ferals and stays, this is heaven. from what i've read from various sources, there were two groups of cats in the house: 38 were in one group, 10 in the other. to me, that sounds as if there was intentional segregation done, most likely, for health reasons (those being treated for uris, need food intake monitored, chronic diarrhea), ie, the cats' benefit. as someone else said, including that of too many vets!--even having one FeLV cat in the house would be construed as mixing the quick and the dead. 38 cats in a 10 x 12 room; not a good idea; 38 cats in a 24 x 30 room? whole different story. unless you have visited a sanctuary setting where the cats are free to roam within their own space, and have plenty of comforts (or, as best friends puts it re: housing FeLVs, "intellectual stimulation"--picturing here a full video collection and library!), most people have no idea of how well the cats get along, and how well-adjusted they can be. cremation is VERY expensive if you are talking about 200 cats. when you're a 501(c)3, you have access to medication and testing kits, greatly-reduced food costs, and, frequently, vet care at an lower rate. i'm not sure why her chosing to spend her money on the living cats is to be faulted so strongly, especially when medical care on a large scale is far less expensive than when one is doing it on an individual basis. did she take on more than she could handle? probably--something i think we ALL struggle with at one time or another. could she have asked for help before the authorities got involved? probably. was putting the bodies outside unburied a good idea--obviously not! none of this says one word about whether these cats were loved and cared for when it mattered. please don't forget that another thing she did was take in the cats that no one else would. there was something about her behavior giving the volunteers permission to do the same thing--if more people WOULD take in the most-undesirable, then no one single person would ever find themselves in this situation again. hopefully what her volunteers, and everyone else when they put themselves in her place, will learn is to ask for help when it's needed, to take a hard look at their own limits, and work to find ways to create the no-kill nation that maddie's fund promotes. when did we decide that a newspaper version of ANYTHING is accurate and fair? what sells papers? "woman overwhelmed with departed cats; living ones in good shape?" every shelter/sanctuary i know of has freezers full of the left-behind bodies--it's just something that the general public doesn't think about, or want to know about. how long they're been there before they can be buried or otherwise disposed of depends on the available freezer space, as well as the method of disposal and, in the case of burial, the weather. it is NOT unusual in the north to end a winter season with a large number of bodies. sick cats DIE--i've read nothing that implies that these cats all died recently, nor in great numbers at any one time. i have NOT see the video footage, so cannot comment on that. i do know that animal control would have removed the living cats if there was cause. there are also realities about caring for a large number of "undesirables" that differ from what one would do in their own home--perfectly clean litterboxes will not be clean in 5 minutes; there is gonna be loose fur and hairballs and thrown-up meals, and dumped food and water bowls no matter what. whomever said that cats are neat animals has never lived with a large number of them at once! it's a never-ending job, and sometimes medicating and giving the cats the attention they want comes first. we do NOT have all the facts here, and the judgmental tone saddens me deeply. do you think anyone reading these posts, if they were in the early stages of such a developing situation, would ask for our help?????? as someone i've been discussing this off-list has said, this has been an enlightening experience re: attitudes and tolerance and reality-testing. am i defending all the choices made here? if all the assumptions being made ARE true, then of course the behavior is indefensible. but there is a tremendous amount we can all learn from this--this work we do is based on love, and sometimes concrete offers of help are needed. how many of us know our local regulations for the disposal of the animals in our care? do we actually know what the limit on number of animals are? do we know if the animal-control authorities in our area are compassionate and willing to help monitor situations, or misuse their powers regularly? we need to think about these things, find the options and solutions before a problem gets out of hand. we need to make it easier for those who take in the ones that no one else wants to do so, and together as a community ensure this doesn't happen anywhere else. -- MaryChristine AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 289856892 This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
