NINA, I WANT TO ANSWER YOU QUICKLY HERE. I BROUGHT MY
CAT TRAP DOWN TO MY FRIENDS. THE CAT WAS TRAPPED IN
HER YARD . SHE CALLED ME SUNDAY EVENING TO TELL ME HE
HAD BEEN TRAPPED. I WAS ON MY WAY, A SHORT WALK TO HER
HOUSE TO PICK THE CAT UP. I PLANNED TO TAKE HIM IN IN
THE MORNING WHEN THE HUMANE SOCIETY WAS OPENED. THE
CAT WOULD HAVE HAD TO SPEND THE ENTIRE NIGHT IN MY
TRAP THAT WAY. WELL, IN OUR TOWN IF IT IS AFTER HOURS
AND THE HUMANE SOCIETY IS CLOSED YOU CALL THE POLICE
DEPT. THEY WILL PICK UP THE ANIMAL AND RELEASE IT INTO
A MORE COMFORTABLE SETTING...MY FRIEND AND I DECIDED
TO HAVE THE CAT PICKED UP. I PLANNED TO DEAL WITH IT
IN THE MORNING...THEN WAS TOLD THE CAT WAS A
FERAL...LIKE BEYOND HOPE...GETTING THIS CAT TESTED
,BECAUSE I REALLY NEEDED TO KNOW IT'S HEALTH STATIS
,BECAUSE MY CAT HAD FOUGHT WITH IT WAS STEP ONE. AFTER
THAT, AFTER LEARNING IF IT WERE DISEASE FREE WOULD BE
STEP TWO. I WOULD TAKE IT UNDER MY WING , SOMEHOW, GET
IT NEUTERED...ALL THIS IF MY VET TOLD ME IT WERE
REASONABLY YOUNG. I FELT LIKE THIS CAT COULD HAVE A
FUTURE. WITH MY PERSONAL SITUATION RIGHT NOW, I HAVE
THREE CAT SITUATIONS GOING ON AT MY HOUSE. MY FOUR BIG
BOYS, MY GIRL BOY KITTENS, AND MY FeLV+ LITTLE GIRL.
THROWING IN A WILD AND WOOLY FERAL TO TAME DOWN WOULD
HAVE REALLY STRETCHED ME THIN...EVERYONE GETS A SHIFT
RIGHT NOW> THREE SHIFTS WOULD HAVE TURNED INTO FOUR. I
DO NOT MIX MY GROUPS...I STILL WOULD HAVE BUSTED MY
BUTT TO SAVE THIS GUY, WHOM I NAMED MARMALADE. YOU
HAVE READ MY RECENT POSTS ,BUT MY EARLY ONE'S YOU HAVE
MISSED ,SO OF COURSE YOU ARE A BIT LOST. I PROBABLY
SOUND LIKE A NUT...SORRY... THANK YOU FOR GETTING BACK
TO ME ON THIS. I DID HAVE PLAN A, B, AND C DOWN FOR
THIS CAT...BECAUSE I BELIEVE EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL
DESERVES TO HAVE SOMEONE LOOKING OUT FOR HIM. I HAD
EVERY INTENTION OF LOOKING OUT FOR THIS LITTLE GUY,
BUT I TOTALLY SCREWED UP! I AM SO VERY SORRY! I SHOULD
HAVE KEPT HIM OVER NIGHT TO START WITH. I JUST FELT,
WITH MY REASONABLY GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH MY LOCAL
SHELTER, I COULD GET ON TOP OF THINGS THAT NEXT
MORNING AND WOULD ALSO HAVE BENEFITTED FROM THE HANDS
ON OF OUR SHELTER PEOPLE HERE. I FIGURED I'D GET SOME
OPINIONS... I DID NOT BELIEVE HE WAS A FERAL CAT WHEN
HE WAS TAKEN IN. HE WAS TOO PRETTY AND QUIET.HE WAS
ALSO RIGHT IN OUR YARDS...THE BASE OF MY FRONT STEP
THAT NIGHT HE AND MY CAT FOUGHT. BESIDES, I HAVE
ALWAYS BEEN TOLD, BY MY FRIENDS INVOLVED WITH FERALS,
ONE WAY YOU CAN TELL A FERAL FROM A DOMESTIC, IS
FERALS GO CRAZY IN TRAPS AND SCREAM THEIR HEADS OFF,
DOMESTICS ARE USUALLY QUIET. THIS GUY WAS VERY CALM
AFTER I BEGAN TALKING TO HIM.
AFTER THIS LETTER I WILL BE OFF THIS SUBJECT, BUT
ANYONE OUT THERE, WHO HAS ANY INSIGHT ON THIS SUBJECT,
PLEASE WRITE TO ME, BECAUSE I FEEL WE CAN ALL LEARN
FROM EACH ONE OF OUR OWN SCREWUPS :ONE OF THE
BEAUTIFUL THINGS ABOUT THIS SITE.
THANK YOU, GLENDA
--- Nina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Well this sounds like a very costly lesson for you,
> your friend, but esp for Marmalade. There are some
> details missing from the story and I'm a bit
> confused. Why, if you were interested in helping
> this cat did you and your friend decide to call
> animal control in the first place? What did you
> think was going to happen when you told them you had
> a feral cat in a trap and asked them to come and get
> it? An owner relinquished cat has very little
> chance of making it out alive from a kill "shelter",
> esp during kitten season when there are so many
> looking for homes, a feral cat has even less of a
> chance. I would pray that since you have made it so
> clear to the staff at the shelter that you want to
> help this cat that they would take pity on him and
> release him to you, but I doubt that is going to
> happen unless you come up with some sort of
> subterfuge, or get very, very insistent. It may
> already be too late. If it were me and I was ready
> to make a life-long commitment to Marmalade, I'd
> find someone from my neighborhood that hasn't
> already been involved to go with me to the shelter
> and claim that Marmalade belongs to them. I'd tell
> them that I found out that he is an "outside cat"
> and here's his owner. There will be fines to pay,
> and they may still refuse to let you have him, but
> at this point it's probably your best chance of
> saving his life.
>
> I can tell from the few previous posts I've read
> from you that you are a caring person and would not
> have set all this in motion if you had known your
> shelter's policies. Perhaps this experience will
> turn you into an advocate for feral and stray cats
> and in Marmalade's name you will save others from a
> similar experience. Please educate yourself on TNR
> and other things you can do to champion the cause of
> feral/stray cats. I don't know the sort of person
> you are, but if you are really willing to get
> involved you can turn your frustration over this
> into a benefit by working to change your local
> shelter's policies. Some of our most important
> lessons come at a very high price. I'm praying that
> somehow this story ends up having a happy ending.
> I'm sorry for the pain you must be going through,
> and I'm very sorry for Marmalade. Please let us
> know what happens.
> Nina
>
>
>
>
> > Hello everyone,
> Several of you here know my story about trapping an
> orange and white cat , whom I named Marmalade. The
> cat
> was trapped this last Sunday night in my personal
> trap. The cat was then transported to our local
> shelter by a policeman. When the cat was turned
> over,
> he became the property of the county shelter...He
> was
> trapped at my friend's house, together we decided to
> call the officer...
>
>
>
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
Need a vacation? Get great deals
to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.
http://travel.yahoo.com/
