For those of you who made such an emotional investment in replying to my
recent post regarding the semi - feral tom that visited my home last week,
here is an update and explanation for that post. Those of you who have
followed my recent posts about my own animals would have a difficult time
imagining me doing such harm to a creature like this. Rightfully so - I
couldn't and didn't. BTW - I don't even own any handguns... :) However what
I described could actually occur in this area for exactly the reasons I
described - lack of rescue/shelter alternatives.

First of all, the cat described in the post, his actions and the
circumstances of his visit to my home were all very real. His demise is not.
He is very much alive and currently roaming the property of a friend of mine
who lives in a small community directly south of me. I dropped him off with
my friend on my way to work in my new job that Friday along with several
pounds of Meow Mix the humane society foisted on me for the care of the last
stray that they refused to accept.

A few observations about your various responses since that was the catalyst
for my rather disturbing post. Many of those who responded have given
replies to other topics from a number of other posters. Some of you have a
very disturbing tendency to ignore what a person says they can or cannot do.
I've noticed before that a poster will state very clearly their limited
finances in dealing with a health matter. Certain respondents can be counted
on to insist that veterinary intervention or medications that can only be
obtained through a vet are the only solution. While this may or may not
always be the case, the poster knows their financial limitations better than
those who insist it shouldn't be a factor. Most veterinary visits have a
price that simply doesn't exist in a family budget when unemployment, health
issues, etc exist. Yet you will insist - sometimes in very condescending
manner - that a way should somehow be found to do that and that the person
isn't a true animal lover if they can't somehow make it happen. What
absolute unmitigated arrogance......

Thus went the theme of many of your replies to me. While totally ignoring
the reality of the situation - lack of shelter alternatives, lack of rescue
space - many of you insisted that it would have been simple to do the
following:

TNR the cat. While this is fine and well if you have the funds to pay for it
and the time to transport the cat to surgery and deal with it's
recuperation, it is not an alternative if the money and time don't exist.
I'm just now coming off a long spell of unemployment. There is no extra
money. To pay for such a procedure is not possible. Starting a new job the
next day after this cat visited meant I would be gone for several days --
read that NOT AT HOME - GONE FROM THE AREA. With my wife working full time,
carrying a full time college course load and caring for an 8 year old child,
her time is spoken for too. Factor in the rather unpredictable nature of
what could happen if this animal were agitated and it is asking too much of
her.

Rehome the animal myself. Hah!!! I'm not an adoption service, mmmkay? This
creature came here uninvited and posed an immediate problem. See previous
remark - I would be NOT AT HOME - GONE FROM THE AREA!!!!!  Yet how many of
you mindlessly insisted that what should have been done was something that
would have required my presence to undertake? I question a few things here -
your ability to comprehend and whether your degree of compassion is really
as great as you imagine it to be. Your arrogance is paramount in your
replies.

None of you - NOT A SINGLE ONE - made any inquiry at all about the nature of
the problems at the local humane society that greatly contribute to this
situation. Since it is very relevant I'll fill you in. The shelter used to
take in animals, hold them for evaluation and attempt to home them for a
period of up to several weeks depending on the volume of animals coming in.
Many were euthanised. It's a sad fact of life - far more animals than people
willing to give them homes. Those with the best potential for being homed
were kept, the rest euthanised.

The shelter managed to piss off most of the veterinary community one way or
another and found themselves without medical consultants needed to properly
evaluate incoming cats. They also lost key people who handled the
euthanasia. As a result there was a recent scandal when it  was discovered
that shelter employees and volunteers were mixing intravenous euthanasia
drugs with food and water and giving it to the cats. There were hideous
reports of seizures, psychotic reactions to the drugs and generally negative
results - kidney and liver damage to animals that had been dosed. This
resulted in an immediate cessation of euthanasia.

A new director came aboard who has nearly zero experience in any sort of
animal care facility. His intent is to rehome any animal that comes in. When
the shelter filled up, those bringing animals in - stray or surrendered pets
were placed on a waiting list that averages around 50 names. Several things
began to happen almost immediately.
First, the community lost a resource for locating lost pets. Those that
found one took them to the shelter. Those that lost one notified the shelter
in case it was turned in. Many found their way back home. That ended.
Second, many of those who came across a stray were and are unable to keep
the animal until they rise to the top of the waiting list. They merely turn
it loose in another neighborhood. A person I know at the rescue group stays
in touch with some of her former co-workers at the shelter. The shelter
people have told her of several instances where the same animal has been
brought in over a span of weeks by different people from different areas.
The obvious occurrence here is that being confronted with the waiting list,
many people are dropping the cats off in an area away from their home where
it is in turn found by someone else who tries to take it to the shelter.
This is also why my area is a prime dumping ground. I'm located only a few
blocks off the main route back into town from the shelter.
The third and most disturbing is that the animals dumped off due to the
waiting list continue to suffer from being homeless. They get into fights
with resident animals, are abused by less than welcoming residents, and get
hit by cars. I wish all animals could find a home. I wish all shelters could
be no-kill. But how is subjecting them to the continued plight of being
homeless and unwanted preferable to a few weeks in a shelter before being
administered a humane death? Oh dear... employees shot that humane part in
the a.s didn't they? Well - now you see the dilemma of this area. The rescue
group is filled up with overflow from the humane society and the animals
continue to suffer. The shelter offers no alternative - just a waiting list
which obviously many people are choosing to disregard.

So what did happen to the noisy, mean tempered old fart that invaded my
home? Well, I closed my cats off in a bedroom on the other side of the
house. Cassie cat stayed in the basement which is her refuge at times. I got
a pet carrier out of the garage and a pair of gloves. I sat on the back
porch with a bowl of dry cat food that had been microwaved for a few seconds
to enhance its odor and began talking to and calling the old tom who was
sitting in the bushes on the side of the house. After several minutes he
came around the corner of the house and sat about 12 feet away in the
driveway. I kept on talking to him and tossed a few pieces of cat food his
way. This spooked him at first and he backed up, muttering and growling.
Pretty soon he stopped with all the noises and began vocalizing responses
when I spoke to him. His voice was a heavy, raspy, croaky sort of sound,
part cry, part meow. I placed a small pile of food where he could see it on
the step below me and off to the side. I kept tossing pieces to him in such
a way that he was obligated to move closer if he wanted to get them. Pretty
soon he was on the step below the food pile. He stretched his neck as far as
he could and stepped lightly forward on a front paw to start eating from the
pile. All this time I kept talking to him. Pretty soon he was out of food
from the pile and looking to me for more. I held some between my thumb and
fingers outstretched in his direction. As soon as he started to sniff at it
I pulled back a little to get him to come closer. When he did I started
lightly stroking along his jaw with my finger and thumb, cat food pinched in
between them. He responded by nuzzling my hand, and damn - he was purring
too!! Things progressed quickly then. He started tolerating more and more of
my petting until I could scratch his head and stroke him all along his back.
When the food was gone, he was talking to me in the most gravely whisky
voice I ever heard from a cat. I went inside to get more food. As I came out
the door, he came all the way up the steps and ate with the pile placed
right next to me, being petted the whole time. He finished his meal and
enjoyed being petted enough to lay down curled up against my hip. While I
petted him and exchanged 'conversation' I noted his condition. His ears were
tattered from fights, torn in places and scarred. He had many scars on his
face and head where the hair was gone. His hips were protruding - bony from
malnutrition. It also appeared that he had ringworm in several spots. After
sitting with him for about half an hour, he only lightly resisted going in
the carrier. He retreated to the rear of the carrier and didn't even try to
escape when I opened it to place food and water inside. The next day he was
taken to my friend's home where he has the run of the horse barn for
shelter, far removed from the hassles of trying to scrape by in town. He has
topical ointment for the ringworm. Beyond that there probably won't be much
in the way of medial care. He didn't get a utopia but his situation was
improved. It's the best I could do, tough sh.t if you don't think it was
enough.

So why write what I did previously? As mentioned before, to cultivate the
responses from some of you who are perpetually myopic and self centered when
you reply to others, seeing their situation only from your own perspective.
Read for understanding, have compassion towards those who may not have your
expertise or financial resources to resolve matters with their feline loved
ones. If you can't manage that, then please shut the f.ck up.

Secondly, I wanted to call attention to the situation that exists here with
our local humane society. They are an independent organization getting no
funding from the city or the county. They do exactly whatever the hell they
want to and have no concerns at all on how it affects the health, safety,
and welfare of the animals or the well being and property rights of the
residents. They are accountable to nobody. I'm still waiting for a
determination on whether the USDA has regulatory authority over this shelter
as they do many other private shelters. While not especially fond of
euthanasia, I'm even less fond of forcing people into a situation where they
abandon animals in hostile, unsafe environments to continue suffering while
the humane society smugly pats itself on the back for a job the feel is well
done. It's not a good situation and no matter how it turns out, the result
will be lacking.....