furball needs a home

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Userjudy36 - 07 Sep 2003 02:17 GMT

I have to move and can not bring him with me.Furball willbe 8 years on Jan
17,2004.he is neutered and loves attention .I am afraid to bring him to a
shelter, even though they claim they are a no kill .how will i know if he
got a good home.

please let me know if you can help,even advice is helpful

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Cat Protector - 07 Sep 2003 04:42 GMT

I have to ask why you can't bring him with you? It really upsets me that
people move and decide that their cat is nothing more than the equivelant of
a beer can to be tossed out. I really believe people should not have any
animal unless they are willing to care for them for the rest of their lives.

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> I have to move and can not bring him with me.Furball willbe 8 years on Jan
> 17,2004.he is neutered and loves attention .I am afraid to bring him to a
> shelter, even though they claim they are a no kill .how will i know if he
> got a good home.
>
> please let me know if you can help,even advice is helpful

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whayface - 07 Sep 2003 13:54 GMT

I have to agree with you. Would he give his real children away if
where he was moving and they said he could not have any children?!?!
I think we all know the answer to that. To me my babies ARE my
children along with my 2 legged children. I no more would "DUMP" my
furbabies then I would my real children.

>I have to ask why you can't bring him with you? It really upsets me that
>people move and decide that their cat is nothing more than the equivelant of
>a beer can to be tossed out. I really believe people should not have any
>animal unless they are willing to care for them for the rest of their lives.

>> I have to move and can not bring him with me.Furball willbe 8 years on Jan
>> 17,2004.he is neutered and loves attention .I am afraid to bring him to a
>> shelter, even though they claim they are a no kill .how will i know
>> if he got a good home. Please let me know if you can help,even advice is
>>helpful

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Kalyahna - 07 Sep 2003 17:57 GMT

> I have to agree with you. Would he give his real children away if
> where he was moving and they said he could not have any children?!?!
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> >a beer can to be tossed out. I really believe people should not have any
> >animal unless they are willing to care for them for the rest of their lives.

I read an interesting article about a month ago in a recent issue of the
ASPCA magazine, for shelters dealing with surrenders. The question it asked
that really stuck with me is simple, and you might want to consider it for
yourselves. Would you rather an animal remain in a home where it is
unwanted, possibly neglected because of that, or in a shelter where it has a
chance to find a new, loving home?

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Cat Protector - 07 Sep 2003 20:12 GMT

Well, obviously the OP can't handle having a cat. They had a choice here and
they decided to move into a place that doesn't allow cats (one of the number
one excuses people have for geting rid of an animal). This person also said
they are afraid to bring this cat to a shelter for the fear they may not
receive a good home. A no-kill shelter may be the route to go here however I
still have to wonder why the human chose to move to a place that will not
allow cats? If you can't handle the responsibility of having a cat then you
should not get one in the first place. A cat is living, breathing creature
not a beer can to be tossed out later.

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> I read an interesting article about a month ago in a recent issue of the
> ASPCA magazine, for shelters dealing with surrenders. The question it asked
> that really stuck with me is simple, and you might want to consider it for
> yourselves. Would you rather an animal remain in a home where it is
> unwanted, possibly neglected because of that, or in a shelter where it has a
> chance to find a new, loving home?

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whayface - 08 Sep 2003 01:50 GMT

>> I have to agree with you. Would he give his real children away if
>> where he was moving and they said he could not have any children?!?!
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>unwanted, possibly neglected because of that, or in a shelter where it has a
>chance to find a new, loving home?

Most shelter around here keep them for an average of a week WHEN THEY
TAKE THEM. Usually they have so many cats / kittens that they will
not even take more !!

http://www.ameritech.net/users/lestark/my-babies.htm

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MaryL - 08 Sep 2003 02:05 GMT

> >> I have to agree with you. Would he give his real children away if
> >> where he was moving and they said he could not have any children?!?!
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> http://www.ameritech.net/users/lestark/my-babies.htm

Our shelter never rejects a cat -- but that often means that the cat will be
euthanized in just a few days because there are far more cats (and dogs)
than homes. Therefore, the question of placing a cat in a shelter where it
has a chance for a loving home is often pure fantasy; it sounds good, but
the chances are pretty remote.

MaryL

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Kalyahna - 09 Sep 2003 14:32 GMT

> Our shelter never rejects a cat -- but that often means that the cat will be
> euthanized in just a few days because there are far more cats (and dogs)
> than homes. Therefore, the question of placing a cat in a shelter where it
> has a chance for a loving home is often pure fantasy; it sounds good, but
> the chances are pretty remote.

Frankly, I'm glad to see that so many people are pushing for people to adopt
shelter cats.
However, it's aggravating to see just as many (and some of the same) people
repeatedly saying that it's nigh-impossible for an animal to find a good
home through those same shelters. They'll be euthanized, or some other
animal will be euthanized to make room for them. Those situations do happen,
but do any of you really think that the people doing the euthanasia enjoy it
or that the shelter doesn't do everything it can to see that the ONLY
animals euthanized are terribly sick or terribly aggressive?

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MaryL - 09 Sep 2003 15:39 GMT

> > Our shelter never rejects a cat -- but that often means that the cat will
> be
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> or that the shelter doesn't do everything it can to see that the ONLY
> animals euthanized are terribly sick or terribly aggressive?

I adopted Duffy through a shelter, and I do strongly recommend that other
people adopt their pets through shelters. I did not say that the people
doing the euthanasia "enjoy" it or that shelter workers do not do their best
for the animals under their care. I am a strong advocate for shelters and
at one time did volunteer inspection of our shelter for the local Humane
Society. I was impressed by the degree of affection and even love that I
saw there; I could see real pain when I was shown the room for euthanasia
and discussed the process with the shelter director. So, nothing in my
message should be construed as derogatory comments against shelter staff.
In fact, my blind cat Duffy was kept in a shelter for several months -- the
personnel there obviously were doing everything in their abilities to avoid
euthanizing him, but that was probably going to come to an end with kitten
season approaching. I was actually responding to this quotation: "Would
you rather an animal remain in a home where it is unwanted, possibly
neglected because of that, or in a shelter where it has a chance to find a
new, loving home?" The point of my message (which I did not make clear) is
that many people think they can dump a cat in a shelter and that it will
find "a new, loving home" when the facts are that shelters receive so many
more cats than they can possibly place in homes that they fact the tragic
(and unavoidable) decision to euthanize the majority of these beautiful
animals.

MaryL

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Daedalus - 09 Sep 2003 20:31 GMT

>> > Our shelter never rejects a cat -- but that often means that the cat
>will
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>
>MaryL

YOur post was a little wordy, Mary. But I agree with the basic point.
People who want to dump their cats in a shelter are terrible
criminals.

There should be a department of animal services established like the
department of Human Services and social work, so that stupid people
who don't love their cats can have them taken away just like their
children can be.

If they waste that kind of money protecting children they should
definitely do it for kitties.

Jade

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Kalyahna - 10 Sep 2003 01:25 GMT

I was actually responding to this quotation: "Would

> you rather an animal remain in a home where it is unwanted, possibly
> neglected because of that, or in a shelter where it has a chance to find a
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> MaryL

That quote is from my post, actually. I didn't mean to jump down your
throat, Mary. My argument is with "the majority" having to be euthanized,
and that you imply that that is the case for every shelter. It isn't, and
not just in no-kills.

No, I absolutely don't agree with people "dumping" their animals, but I
would rather see an animal come in to our shelter than remain with people
who've decided not to keep the animal and emotionally neglect it. The quote
you referred to was in Animal Watch, and meant to remind office staff what a
shelter's ultimate purpose is. It's supposed to combat the hostility that
begins to worm its way into staff communication with the public (most of
which is well earned, of course).

I suppose it's my retail experience catching up to me. I've learned to
rarely use words like "never" and "always" and just stick to "most" and
"many." It's nitpicky, but shelters get enough bad press as it is just for
euthanasia.

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Mary - 09 Sep 2003 18:44 GMT

> Those situations do happen,
>but do any of you really think that the people doing the euthanasia enjoy it
>or that the shelter doesn't do everything it can to see that the ONLY
>animals euthanized are terribly sick or terribly aggressive?

The shelter employees do not enjoy it. Euthanasia duty pays a lot more than
regular duty and you're only allowed to do it so many months at a time because
of the psychological stress. The shelter employees generally do everything they
can to place an animal. I walk in there and they are talking up all the dogs,
especially sweet dogs near the end of the alloted time. They offer to foster
kittens at home. Most of the employees at Los Angeles city shelters are great
and truly love animals. The problem is just really big and multi-faceted.
Everyone is trying to work on it to make LA no-kill. We'll see how it goes.

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Joe Pitt - 09 Sep 2003 19:07 GMT

It boils down to money. If you commit to taking everything in, you can't
house them forever. My group is a no-kill group, however we turn animals
away every week. We keep them in our homes. We don't get public funds, just
the adoption fee and some donations.

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Joe
http://www.jwpitt.com/cats.htm
Cat Rescue http://www.animalrescuefoundation.com
God created the cat so man could have the pleasure of petting the tiger

> > Those situations do happen,
> >but do any of you really think that the people doing the euthanasia enjoy it
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> and truly love animals. The problem is just really big and multi-faceted.
> Everyone is trying to work on it to make LA no-kill. We'll see how it goes.

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Kalyahna - 10 Sep 2003 01:39 GMT

> The shelter employees do not enjoy it. Euthanasia duty pays a lot more than
> regular duty and you're only allowed to do it so many months at a time because
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> and truly love animals. The problem is just really big and multi-faceted.
> Everyone is trying to work on it to make LA no-kill. We'll see how it goes.

Euth duty -can- pay a lot more. Depends on the shelter. Our shelter requires
extra duties taken on for taking a senior carestaff position. My year comes
up next month, which makes me eligible for seniority, and I was certified
for euth in April. As far as I know, I'll get a raise for the year, and for
the seniority, but not necessarily for the euth. We have no time limit for
who does the euthanasia. Right now, it's the admitting staff that does it.
Granted, it's a much smaller shelter than any in LA, so that might have
something to do with it. But even we don't have a time limit (unless it's an
aggressive animal simply waiting out its stray period). Most of the staff
has fosters. Those that can't foster cats or dogs foster wildlife; one of
the office staff has baby squirrels. We have staff that willingly take
trouble cats to work on issues. One person has a cat who tends to bite.
Another has a litterbox cat who's blind in one eye. Lots of kittens. Lots of
ringworm (geez!). Lots of scared cats in need of socialization.

My wandering point is the same one I made to the other Mary. Not every
shelter is the same. It can put up a positive image or a negative one to
class them all the same in every category.

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