I completely agree with what you say about educating people. Therein lies the answer.
:) Wendy --- Jennifer Phaewryn O'Gwynn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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> No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.19/507 - > Release Date: 10/31/2006 > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Low, Low, Low Rates! Check out Yahoo! Messenger's cheap PC-to-Phone call rates (http://voice.yahoo.com)
