Monday, August 15, 2011

What a Weekend!

When I walked into the shelter this morning I was immediately faced with an elderly man holding an ancient looking cat in a towel.  The cat was obviously in distress.  He was gasping for air and no doubt in the final hours of his life.  I asked the man about the cat and he said he was 21 years old - had the cat since he was a kitten. 

I begged the man,  "PLEASE don't leave your 21 year old cat here to die"  I told him that his cat deserved to be loved in his final moments and to PLEASE take him to the vet. 

The old fart wouldn't listen to me and left his cat to die alone.  That's what you get for 21 eff'ing years of loyalty? 

The veterinary technician kindly euthanized the poor old cat after immediately assessing him.  He didn't have to wait until the vet day to be left in a pile with the rest of the discarded cats. 

The old shithead.  I hope somebody abandons him.  Not kind...but I don't feel very kind right now.

I must've been really rattled because I ended up forgetting a cat that I was suppose to rescue today.  Poor guy...one more night in a cage because I forgot.  UGH.

Now for the good news:

Our adoption event was a HUGE success!  We had EIGHT adoptions during the event!  Not only did we have 8 adoptions during the event, but we had a total of NINETEEN adoptions for the weekend!!!  Everybody kept saying, "See Beth!!!  People showed up!"  The adopters were wonderful and we had lots of visits from foster parents too!  We even had a prior adopter show up with their 5 year old son - he had a donation of saved money to us. (SOOO cute...in a ziplock baggie!)  It was a wonderful day!  I'm only sorry that I didn't ask for more help.  The three of us who volunteered for the event were swamped.

Volunteers went back to the shelter on Sunday and rescued more cats, and I went to the shelter today:


The Animal Control officer had brought in a really tiny guy - about 5 weeks old and I rescued him too.  He never really made it into the shelter.  :)

Once again, I find myself clinging to the good things and not overly holding on to the bad stuff.  Lots of cats found homes this weekend and many were rescued.  As always, I'm in awe of our volunteers.  There's no doubt in my mind that we have THE BEST there are in animal rescue.  :)



13 comments:

Faith J. said...

Wow! 19! Great job to everyone! That is wonderful news. You are really making a difference.

Did the orange tom from a few posts back find a foster home?

Random Felines said...

What an AWESOME weekend!! YEAH for lots of adoptions. And we love kids that come with all their change - it is so sweet - and says even more about their parents teaching them good things.

As for the old ### - all we can say is that karma is a witch.

Unknown said...

Old fart was a nice way of describing....I would have chosen Old 'somethingelseoranother' -- JERK.

Congrats on the successful adoption event!

Deb said...

To the man who abandoned his cat "You are a piece of shit"
So happy to hear that the weekend was a success for you, Beth. You work so hard and deserve good results.
That Siamese needs to be rescued. They are so smart and sensitive and do not do well in shelters. They are too smart for their own good. I wish this one the best and would foster him is I was closer. hugs, Deb=^..^=x4

Fuzzy Tales said...

I'm not going to comment on the elderly man, because I just can't. At least the poor cat is now at peace, a mercy.

Congratulations on a VERY successful weekend! I'm doing a happy dance for you, Beth--for the cats and kittens adopted most especially, and hope they all have *good* forever homes.

Lory and Co. said...

Congratulations on all the adoptions and rescues!

I hope karma rewards that old man in kind!

mary said...

I love your blog, although many times it is very, very sad. You see a lot of thoughtlessness, neglect and cruelty by humans towards their cats. I am an RN and re: the elderly man with the dying cat...I think many times very elderly folks can function and make good decisions in the routine tasks of the day; but unusual/crisis situations, such as my cat is sick & dying, can present too much of a challenge. Bless the vet tech who was there, bless you for offering an alternative, bless the man for loving his cat for 20 yrs, bless the poor cat who probably forgave his man for leaving him at the shelter.

Anonymous said...

Great news on the adoptions Beth and helpers ! Hurray 19 more lives saved !...about the old fart...I have a 94 year old " old fart " step father I have to deal with every day..not easy to make sense of the the way they think, but if he would have to pay a vet...they just can't handle that..and perhaps he had already had enough trauma making the decision to leave the cat at the shelter...staying with the cat in his last moments may have been too much for him to handle...sad but sometimes this is the case. Hope the shelter vet was kind to poor old kitty ! Any chance Tia and Bo made it out on the weekend Beth ? Have my fingers crossed for them and Sweet Angie and Pavlova. Romeo has disappeared off the list too ..did someone get him out? Willy and Barney look like they could use some help too. Saying lots of prayers and wishing I could help ! Gail

Connie - Tails from the Foster Kittens said...

thank you Zoe for your comments. The old kitty made me cry, and it was nice of you to offer another thought on the matter.

House of the Discarded said...

Zoe: Thank you so much for another perspective. I really appreciate it.

B

Carolyn said...

Congratulations on a very successful adoption event despite stiff competition!
To update Anonymous, Tia was rescued by Forgotten Ones and I am fostering her and Colleen. After getting a bath, Tia is a stunning medium-haired black girl who flops over and wriggles with joy to be petted.

Cat Wisdom 101 said...

Just found your wonderful blog. Glad there was good news after that heartbreaking story about the old cat. My guess is he didn't have the money to get the cat euthanized. My mom (in a senior building in T.O. sees that happen all the time with pensioners.) Btw, I'm the founder of the Annex Cat Rescue but live in the NYC area now.

House of the Discarded said...

Cat Wisdom: Welcome!!! Strangely enough, it's more expensive to euthanize the cat at the frickin' shelter. Amazing. Annex Cat Rescue is still doing great stuff!

B