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| Kaye Larsen Olloway at Fat Cat Rescue, 2023. |
The black Kia rolled up shortly before midnight to Fat Cat Rescue, a 7-acre haven for feral cats in Wadsworth that readers might remember me visiting in the summer of 2023.
It certainly was not summer now, but late January and bitterly cold.
A couple got out of the car. You see them on security camera footage, jiggling locked door handles. They notice the doggie door, remove a cat from the car, push it through the door, then speed off.
Being a cat, however, the animal didn't stay where it was put. She ran back outside, into the freezing weather, joined by two more cats dropped off by the same couple.
The volunteers who keep Fat Cat humming eventually corralled the three cats, one badly hurt by frostbite. Then they appealed to me.
"We need your help please," Michelle Andrich, a volunteer, wrote. "Two-part help."
The first part was to share photos of the couple dropping off the cats and their car in the hope that "someone will recognize them and turn them in. ... There should be consequences for their actions."
Pass. In the annals of unpunished crime, dropping off cats at a shelter doesn't cry out for justice. The couple didn't know any better, which leads to Fat Cat's second request.
"There are proper ways for a pet owner to surrender their pets," Andrich said. Would I help "educate or enlighten people on proper ways to surrender your pet"?
Well, I can try. Whether they actually get enlightened is on them.
People give up their animals for a variety of reasons — they move, lose jobs, can no longer afford their upkeep. Pets get sick, or their owners do.
What should you do if you can no longer care for an animal?
Start by planning ahead, if possible.
"Don't wait until the last minute," said Kaye Larsen Olloway, who runs Fat Cat and suggests allowing at least a month to find your pet a home. "If you know you're moving out, don't wait until the night before to make arrangements for the pet. Give us a chance to make arrangements. We have a list of 20 other rescues we can contact."
Or reach out to Chicago Animal Care and Control.
"Our staff will help you," said Armando Tejeda, public information officer at the city department. "You don't have to do this alone. Resources exist."
To continue reading, click here.
Animals are, animals. People with housing or food insecurity are more import issues to address.
ReplyDeletePets are a multi billion dollar business. and for as much comfort and joy as they can Bring to someone a pretty sordid industry.
My roommate and I share a cat. took him in from the alley. There are a lot more out there. Can't care for them all . There should not been child living on the streets
The state of our union is strong my ass!
I have always adopted shelter cats, and they all had sad backstories. My current pair are 15 and 10 years old, I always adopt older cats. One was rescued from a hoarding situation and the other was brought to the shelter because the only people he had known his whole life decided that they wanted to travel. Apparently, pet sitting was not in their budget.
ReplyDeleteWe have not adopted any kittens in almost 25 years. Yeah, even though they're a handful and they can be destructive at times, they're cute and they're fun. But once you reach a certain age, it's a given that a kitten will outlive you, and be orphaned and need rehoming as a more fragile senior. Why would we want to put our furry friends in that situation?
DeleteOur last bonded pair, all-black Onyx and an orange tabby named Leo, came from the shelter after someone died and they needed to be adopted together. Leo was already a senior and had health issues. He survived another four years. Onyx was a lot younger and lived for a decade.
So now we are down to only one kitty and are looking for an older companion for her. No more kittens. Not when you're pushing 80. And senior cats, so often ignored or rejected or overlooked, make wonderful feline companions.
The high cost of veterinary care is a significant factor in animal surrenders. This is partly due to the acquisition of veterinary offices by private equity. The trend of pushing veterinary insurance doesn't help. It makes it easier for vets to raise prices, but based on my research it is seldom cost effective. I have also noticed that vets push Cadillac care. Sometimes it would help if they just offered the basic model.
ReplyDelete