That's what happened recently with Cheeto. A woman contacted our rescue about adopting and was screened for adoption, but she was promptly referred to the shelter to adopt. I guess the $150.00 adoption fee was too much at the time. (Although I think if you can't afford the $150.00, maybe adopting isn't the right thing for you at this moment in your life) If you want to adopt from this shelter, you have to be escorted back with a qualified rescue. This is where I come in - her call was referred to me. The woman got restless waiting for me to call her back (it was all of 4 hours) and went to another rescue. The other rescue took her to the shelter and let her adopt Cheeto with no adoption fee.
Two days later the woman comes back with Cheeto and wants to return him to the shelter. "Why?" you ask? He has diarrhea. Really. Cheeto has the squirts and she wants to return him to death row. Cheeto isn't pooping all over her house - Cheeto is using his litterbox! He has some blood in his stool, which probably means parasites, but she doesn't bother to take him to the vets to find out. She figures he's sick and wants to dump him back at the shelter.
So how did this woman fall through the cracks of not one...but TWO rescue agencies? I have no idea. She must've been very convincing. Needless to say, I was livid when I heard the news. I called the woman and really read her the riot act. She started to cry. She said she didn't have the money to take him to the vets. ((Insert HUGE "DUH"!!! here)) I mean...she couldn't afford to pay a $150.00 to a rescue agency for a cat already vetted...why on earth would we think she could suddenly afford to take him to the vet for diarrhea??
Lordie, I'm getting mad all over again. So this poor cat is wondering what the hell has happened to him. He's back in a cage at the shelter....
....at least for the night....
Because today I packed up a crate and headed back out to the shelter:
Needless to say, Cheeto is safe and happy at "Chez Turner". What a little lambchop! He's a purring orange and white lovemuffin.
Now Cheeto has another chance at a beautiful life. I won't let him fall through the cracks this time. He's going to get kissed and loved like there's no tomorrow!
6 comments:
aww thats so great that you took him. I gave that lady a hard time. I couldnt believe she brought him back, for such a stupid reason. I made her wait in the waiting room for a while. Poor Cheeto, she didnt deserve to have him. He definatly needs a better home!
Poor Cheeto! I'm glad he's going to have a happy ending after all!
Is there a "do not adopt to this person" list circulated among rescues? If not, there should be. Fool woman.
There should be!! She'll probably end up going on Craiglist to adopt a "Free cat" again. Stupid woman.
Thank you so much Beth for coming to SAVE Cheeto! You are so great and I really still can't believe this story. I am STILL very angry about the whole thing. You are his Angel...thats for sure! He better get the best home possible for what he's been through :(
My rowdy kitten had the worst case of diahhrea when I first got him, but he'd been vetted, given all his shots and was clean, I still took him to the vet and paid handsomely for it, almost 175$ just to be told he's fine.
Changing to a LESS EXPENSIVE form of food that I was using solved the problem quite swiftly.
He's been completely healthy and happy since then. I always warn people and friends to have a 'buffer' for a new pet, of a few hundred bucks for initial problems. It bothers me when people ignore this.
Post a Comment