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Well, that's one crappily run "rescue", sounds more like a group of people
getting together to pull cats from a kill shelter to "save" them, with no PLAN.
I've seen it many times, but most don't even bother trying to pull off
considering themselves a "rescue". There's another name for that, it's called
HOARDING. It starts out like this... someone discovers that the world is a cruel
place, and that animals die every second due to pet overpopulation. Poor
bleeding heart tears open, and they begin to go visit the local kill shelter.
Heart strings pull, every cat there is going to DIE, as they stare face first
through the cage bars into the throes of the pet overpopulation crisis, they
can't help but to save "just this one". So they take home their first "rescue".
But the problem still exists, so next week, another trip to the kill shelter,
more tears, and another cat gets "rescued". Time passes on, and more cats come
home. The house is now full of rescued cats, more than the poor bleeding hearted
person can really care for. Things slide... vet visits get overlooked (maybe
even spay/neuter appointments, leading to "rescue kittens"), water dishes don't
get washed, litterboxes tend to get really bad before being changed, not because
the person doesn't CARE, but just because it's TOO MUCH for one person to take
on. But the shelter still fills up with cats, cats that are DYING every day. The
"rescuer" realizes... I need help! Desperate, this "rescuer" goes online, maybe
starts a yahoogroup, and posts pictures and stories of cats at this kill
shelter, and begs people to foster a cat. Fosters come forward, pulled at the
heartstrings of the tragedy in the pet overpopulation problem. They are
convinced, by this "rescuer" (who may by now have come up with a website, a
"name" for his/her "rescue", and some kind of following), that they can make the
difference, they can "adopt" this one kill shelter, and really turn the numbers
around, make this one city or county a "no kill" city. More fosters get on
board, but the influx of cats at this shelter never stops, because even though
people are now pulling the cats from the shelter, there's no outreach to the
community, and the BREEDERS (by breeders, I mean ANY unspayed or unneutered cat
or dog) are still popping out more kittens. The cycle is sustainable, for a
while, if they get more fosters, they may even make head-way, maybe they get it
so the kill shelter never has a full cat room. Time passes, things are looking
good, people feel like they are making a difference. But, then the fosters
begin to realize, "wait, am I fostering, or have I just adopted these cats?",
because the "rescuer" never seems to be ready to have a cat they are fostering
returned to the rescue to be adopted out. That's because the "rescuer" has also
kept pulling cats all along, so there's never any "space" at the rescue. Still,
more "foster home" requests keep coming, who can deny a face like Tigger's, or
the cute little kittens about to be killed at the shelter? Now, there's a big
GROUP of "rescuers", some that consider themselves "fosters" because they pulled
the cat under the name or direction of the "rescue". But it's still the same as
always, cats continue to come into the kill shelter, and members of the "rescue
GROUP" keep pulling more and more cats, to "save" them all. Money goes into vet
bills, expenses pile up, things take a turn for the worse, it's getting hard to
pay for all the food, and litter, and keep up with the litterboxes, and bowls,
and bedding. But the rescuer holds on to hope, because they are "just fostering"
for another rescuer, and it's only "temporary". But, the fact is, the act of
simply PULLING from a kill shelter DOES NOT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE TO THE PET
OVERPOPULATION PROBLEM. It really sucks to think of it this way, BUT, if even
just ONE of these rescuers pulling from the kill shelters took ALL the money
spent on pulling cats (most shelters DO charge an "adoption" fee, even to
"rescues"), feeding them, vetting them all, etc; and instead used the money to
provide free spays and neuters to low income members of the city the kill
shelter is located in or used it to create educational programs for that
community, THAT would REALLY make the difference. Yes, cats WILL DIE. The Kill
Shelters are NOT the enemy, the UNEDUCATED and POOR people of the community that
don't or can't afford to get their pets altered are the enemies. The cycle wont
stop by pulling cats from kill shelters. I know it SUCKS to consider that fact,
but it's true, saving Tigger, Fluffy, Honey, Cotton, and Shadow, all cats that
WOULD have DIED in the shelter, does not, and cannot ever make any difference to
the GREATER ISSUE that underlies tragic face of pet overpopulation in our world.
There are MUCH worse things than euthanasia (think of YOURSELF living your
entire life in a 8x8x8 cage, that's about the same ratio of space a cat feels in
a 2x2x2 cage). If we get past the faces peering out at us from behind the bars,
and down to the root of it all, you'll discover the truth, that IF we
concentrated on getting GOOD public awareness of the issue, if we provided LOW
COST or FREE spay/neuter services to the general public, those little faces
behind the bars.... the ones you want to save from that fate at the kill
shelter... they would never have been BORN to begin with. In that, you'll find
the answer.
Bless you all!
....please don't blame the messenger....
Phaewryn Please adopt a cat from Little Cheetah Cat Rescue!!! http://ucat.us/adopt.html
Low cost Spay&Neuter services in VT, and Emergency Financial Assistance for cat owners: http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html Special Needs Cat Resources: http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html The Sofa Poem: http://ucat.us/sofapoem.html Find us on PETFINDER! http://petfinder.com/shelters/VT44.html |
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