there are two org's for the kitties that keep them there regularly. The
petsmart has a separate room filled with cages that stays locked so no one
can go in, but you can view the kitties through a glass window. They also
have cages outside the room for another one of the organizations, which keep
the kitties in one large enclosure with several cages inside. It's all
metal, with only the front (door) being open. People in theory could stick
their hands in, they do stay locked, but the kitties have more than enough
room to stay out of reach in those cages. Is there any way your petsmart
could set up something like that? I know having the kitties there during all
store hours does a world of good. As far as I know, volunteers care for the
kitties at least once a day, possibly twice a day.
Genie
In a message dated 7/6/01 11:11:48 AM Central Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Subj: Re: Getting ready for another kitty cat(s)...
Date: 7/6/01 11:11:48 AM Central Daylight Time
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hey Carla,
I am actually taking a break this weekend and going to Hilton Head (the
beach). I don't foster now because I live in an apartment and am already
in violation of my lease w/ my three cats! It's more of a "don't ask don't
tell" policy so I don't want to push it w/ fosters. Besides, I have no
where to put them and obviously would need to keep them separate from Andy.
We are strictly foster care. We don't have a shelter yet. I don't know if
you guys do, but that does make a difference. We only do the Luv-A-Pet
adoptions, and restrict the number of animals any given foster can have.
It got so bad this spring w/ the cats that Barb vaccinated one kitten
twice, some not at all, couldn't keep up the medical records, couldn't keep
the cages clean even w/ 3 of us helping her during the week, etc. It was a
simple case of too many cats, especially kittens. It is impossible for a
person, especially one who works full time, to care for that many cats
adequately. Her numbers are coming down and she is now set a limit as is
everyone else. There were times at Petsmart that I had to MAKE her
acknowledge that some of her kittens were sick and needed to be taken out.
She didn't do anything about it the first time I mentioned it, and the
kitten died a couple of days later. I told her one had a spot that had
ringworm and she didn't remove him, so !
I !
did. She was just so overwhelme
d that she couldn't even think straight. It is better now, and we will NOT
let our numbers get that high again.
Ed (the Petsmart manager) said we could do the overnight thing, but none of
the cat fosters will do it. The rules, as we were told, is that locks must
be on the cages, it's cats only, someone must come take care of the cats 2x
a day and they can only be left for 2 consecutive nights. Then you leave
forms outside the door that people fill out and put in the box for us to
collect. It asks the basic screening info and what cat they are interested
in, etc. I think it would help w/ adoptions, but none of our fosters will
go for it. Donna thinks it's a great idea and wants them to do it. She
only has dogs so it is not an option for her. I would do it if I fostered,
but I would not do it w/ skittish cats. There are some who are more laid
back than others. I know Diana (cat foster) fears that people will hit the
cages or poke at them through the bars. She says they can still be hurt or
scared by mean people even if the cage cannot be opened. I don't know, I
think it would!
b!
e ok, but they aren't my foster
cats!
Good luck to you too.
Jamie
