People who just drop off pets

14 years ago

This is more of me venting than anything else but here goes- I volunteer at a local shelter/rescue. They adopt out between 60 and 120 cats a month. 120 was in December. Last month I think they adopted out around 80. They will not let you adopt a cat if you admit you are taking it to a farm, that you openly say you will let it outside, or if you come in and say your younger cat just died of something unknown- you didn't take it to the vet) and you want a replacement. So it is not like they are throwing cats at anyone who walks in. Also it costs $100 to adopt a kitten. I just had an older solid black female cat (who was a stray and mother of kittens I found last summer) get adopted after only a month at the shelter. That was a miracle (an older lady came in and wanted a cat as a companion and my cat jumped on her lap and refused to move. The lady was delighted and took her home.)

Anyway, on to my rant. Over the weekend I found another drop off cat at my house. A beautiful young calico. Obviously well taken care of (she wasn't dirty or anything) but starving. She ate so much food and wolfed it down till she choked on it. I've asked around and no one claims her. So another cat for me to keep until there is room at the shelter for her. And last night one of my friends came over to visit and told me that his mother has a cat she wants to get rid of. It was her boyfriend's and he moved out and the mother thinks the cat is a nuisance and plans to drive it somewhere out in the country and drop it off. To me that is one step below torturing an animal. It is NOT fair to feed and house an animal for a few years and then suddenly decide you don't want the responsibility and then hoist it off like garbage and make it someone else's problem. At least the cat is spayed but cats who grow up in someone's home don't automatically know how to fend for themselves. My friend didn't understand my frustration and I offered to take the cat to the shelter but they feel it will be better off living on its own in the country somewhere. He said his mom thinks someone will see it and pick it up and take care of it. I hate stupid people! I mean, i understand that if you are losing your house, your cat or dog isn't the first thing you worry about. And in the 10-18 year lifespan of a cat a lot of things can change- your family situation, your living situation etc and a pet may no longer fit in your life but at least treat the animal better than you would some old couch you need to get rid of. I guess I was raised "wrong" because my parents ALWAYS kept every single pet we owned until it passed away. They were like members of the family. The only exception was the horses we owned. They were pets of a different nature and we took them to horse shows and we'd sell one and buy another when we outgrew it or needed something better for competition but we always made sure we found good homes for them.

It just makes me angry because even though the shelter is able to adopt out so many cats, they probably get twice as many a month that are dropped off. And not all of those even get a chance to find a new home.

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Comments (10)

annzgw
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Re: your friend's Mother, I'd print out several pages of info on abandoned cats, have your friend read them and give him extra copies to give to his Mother. If he truly cared about the cat he would convince her to let you rescue it.

Be sure to point out that after the cat goes thru it's first period of starvation it would end up with Hepatic Lipidosis. That is, if it were lucky enough to survive being dinner for stray dogs, bobcats, coyotes, and any other type of wildlife that lives in the area.

I would continue to pressure your friend to convince his Mother to let you come get the cat.
The woman definitely needs to be educated on why household pets rarely survive in the wild.
rivkadr
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
the mother thinks the cat is a nuisance and plans to drive it somewhere out in the country and drop it off.

I grew up on a dirt road out in the country, on the edge of a small woods. We had TONS of cats that were dropped off on our road, some that were just very young kittens. We "adopted" them all, in the sense that we got them spayed/neutered, and fed them, but we kept them all as outside cats -- there were just too many of them, and we had too many dogs in the house to deal with adding cats in as well. This was back in the 70's in a very rural community, so no nearby animal shelter (which is why I guess people kept dropping them off by us). It's really not an ideal life for an animal to just be dropped off in a situation like that, and it's certainly not fair to the people who end up taking care of the pets.

People would dump off dead animals, too -- one of my most vivid memories from my childhood is of walking down our road, and finding a large paper bag with a dead cocker spaniel in it. Why would someone just dump it off by the side of the road like that??
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carmen_grower_2007
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well, not everywhere has a problem. We found a kitten (female and too young to be spayed) last year. There are not any cats coming on to our property although I see them on the road near us. I think that our spayed/neutered cats keep others away and this little cat who is now over a year old has never gotten pregnant.

That is fine although I would love for her to have a friend. The other cats want nothing to do with her and stalk/terrorize her. I expect eventually another litter of kittens will come our way and when that happens, we will keep some but have them all spayed/neutered. I just hoped she would be able to have a litter to ensure a friend for her.
cheryl_p
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I guess there must me something wrong with me or my upbringing too. If I was losing my house, my dog and cat WOULD be the first thing I'd worry about! Ours is quite a spoiled, self indulgent and irresponsible society today. There ARE good humans here and there though - God bless 'em.
newhomeseeker
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
" just hoped she would be able to have a litter to ensure a friend for her."

I really hope you are not serious. There are enough cats out there that need homesthat it is beyond crazy to hope that a cat actually has kittens so they can have a "friend". I had two pregnant cats that were either dumped near my house or found their way there. One was so thin I had no idea she was pregnant and she only had two kittens. After the kittens were weaned the mother wanted nothing to do with them. Another cat had five kittens (found homes for two, kept two and still trying to find a home for one and they are 9 months old now. Their mother didn't get along with ANY of them. In fact one day she just had enough and snapped and started attacking the kittens and I had to separate them. So just because they are related does not mean they will be friendly with each other.

A litter of 9 kittens was dropped off at the shelter recently. If one cat can have 9 kittens that all survive and there are thousands of unspayed females out there - do the math. Way too many homeless animals.
petra_gw
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This thread makes me sad, we've taken in several dumped animals and they were all in terrible shape and not able to fend for themselves at all. People can be such utter morons and a$$holes.
weed30 St. Louis
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Oh great...not only is carmen_grower_2007 going to let her dog have "just one litter", she hopes to add to the cat population too.
Lily316
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You just can't cure stupid. I'd like to dump that lady far far in the wilderness and watch her fend for herself. And anyone who encourages litters has to be completely uninformed. The pregnant cat I rescued years ago, started to dislike her boys who found a home together. I kept mom and her daughter. Mom likes one of my other cats better than her lookalike daughter
cutencuddly
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm sorry but you owe a responsibility to that pet! Yes, I'm a breeder, but I also take in rescues too! I do thorough checks before anyone gets a pup from any of my few litters, and they not only have a lifetime guarantee if the terms of the agreement are followed to a T but I will take back any animal that's unwanted for whatever reason! It's spayed/neutered and offered for adoption once it's acclimated and been assessed and home checks etc have been done, they have the option of being lovingly rehomed (and NO, I don't charge for any adoption fee for expenses incurred, it's my responsibility! I only ask they buy either ahead of time of when they visit the high quality diet we keep our animals on as well as the Nu-Vet Supplement which I attribute the animals I have Good health! I also supply probicin to help the pups digestional tract adjust to it's new home!) If it comes down to it.. I've got myself another pet to love.. they're living, breathing, beings and shouldn't be put out like last nights trash!
trinigemini
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
weed I thought the same thing. And now I'm thinking troll.

People who just drop off pets

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