About two months ago I started volunteering at the animal rescue I'm fostering 3 cats through. I was fostering 6 cats (5 kittens 1 adult cat) through them. Last month the manager of the cat section asked me if I would bring in two of my 4 month old kittens. She had room and wanted to send them to a pet store that they do adoptions out of. I agreed because there are alot of adoptions out of the pet store (my last foster kitten got adopted from there) So I brought them in. I raised them from the time they were a few weeks old (when I found them) so I'm a protective foster mom and wanted to make sure they were ok. I sent the manager an email asking if they were ok and she replied they were.
I volunteer at the shelter three days a week and I worked thanksgiving day morning, Christmas Eve, and New Years Eve there. One of the days of the week that I volunteer often I am the only volunteer working and have to take care of 150 cats by myself. I am not complaining. Just saying I should be viewed as somewhat helpful to the shelter by those who are paid to work there. Less than a week after they took my foster kittens to the pet store, I was cleaning a cat room and talking and one of my foster kittens ran up to me!! I didn't even know they were at the shelter! So after loving on them for awhile I went to the manager and asked when the two cats were moved back to the shelter. She said they were timid at the pet store and scared so she thought she'd bring them back to the shelter to adjust and that way I could see them when I volunteered as well. No problem.
Well on Christmas Eve I came in to work there and my two cats were gone. They were still listed on the shelter's web site so I assumed they'd been moved. I didn't want to bother the manager about it but was curious as to whether they got adopted. So I went to the manager and she said no they went to the pet store.
After Christmas, I had talked to a neighbor who is looking for a young cat and told her about my foster kittens. she was looking for a solid black cat and my foster kitten who is at the pet store is solid black. I told her about him and she wanted to go see him. THe next day that I volunteered I went to the manager of the cat section and asked if my two foster kittens were still at the pet store. She said she thought one had gotten adopted but couldn't remember which one off the top of her head. This was understandable as December was a very busy month of adoptions. My neighbor went to the pet store (their closest location) and reported that the kitten was not there. So the next time I volunteered I went to the cat manager and told her I had someone interested in possibly adopting one of my old fosters and I needed to know which pet store location the cat was at. She told me it was at X location and I called my neighbor and told her this. THe manager told me that both of my fosters were still there.
So my neighbor drove to the further location and again reported the cat was not there! Thinking she was mistaken I drove there (a 45 minute drive) and my old fosters were not there. I asked one of the adoption volunteers working there and she told me that both cats were supposed to recieve booster shots and had not and yet they'd been let loose with the rest of the shelter cats before anyone caught the mistake. She said they'd been in the shelter in medical quarantine the entire time (since I noticed they were missing from the shelter). She asked who I talked to there and I told her the cat manager. (I did not tell her I was a volunteer or their foster "mom" because at first I thought she was implying that I didn't bring them in for their booster shots which is untrue.) She rolled her eyes and said "oh god, don't listen to anything that woman says, she has NO idea what is going on" She said sorry about that and told me to talk to anyone else there and not the cat manager. Again she did not know I was a volunteer but I've heard this sentiment expressed by the medical staff there as well.
I think there was a mix up possibly because normally when a cat is admitted into the foster program the shelter pays for the kittens first set of shots, boosters, flea treatment and surgery. However, since I had these kittens since they were only a few weeks old, I had already taken them to my own vet and they'd had their first set of shots, been neutred and were tested for everything before I brougth them to the shelter and enrolled them in the program. I brougth their medical records in and gave them to the cat manager (who may not have passed them on)
I have 3 more cats as fosters that are in my home and I'm worried I'm not being kept up to date on their shots and the same thing will happen if I bring them in.
I am upset that the two cats were at the shelter the entire time and I was not informed of this. when I asked (because someone was interested in adopting one) I was given the wrong information! Also I know the shelter will ask the volunteers to take their fosters back if there is a problem or if they have a cat that has a medical condition they will ask the volunteers if anyone will adopt it before they put it down. However, I wasn't even notified there was a problem with my fosters. are they planning to put them down (they are 5 month old kittens) and not tell me?
I have no idea what to do. I don't know if I should confront the manager of the cat section or go straight to the medical ward? What would you do?
olyagrove
annzgw
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