I was back at the shelter today and met up with a with a foster Mom. We ended up rescuing 4 cats. I'm so grateful that this foster Mom has come back. She was on a sabbatical from fostering for the past year. To be honest, I figured she'd never come back after she was stuck with a Mom cat and 6 kittens with ringworm. UGH! Bless her heart, she took care of the little family through adoption.
We went to the "nice" shelter today. There was one little semi-feral guy in the back that was scheduled for euthanasia because he was deemed unadoptable. I watched our foster Mom melt as she held the scared kitten in her arms. He tucked under her chin - his heart racing so fast. He's now safe. She's going to work with him. :)
Going into any shelter isn't exactly a pleasant experience. The cats are homeless and many grow up there for lack of adoptions. However, this shelter is air conditioned, the cats are cared for and the staff know each and every one of them. There are VOLUNTEERS who come into the shelter, brush the cats, and love them. The staff is proud of what they do for a living. Everybody is always smiling. Cats are frolicking and playing with toys.
I do feel guilty that I didn't rescue from the "high kill" shelter today. I recently did the math and determined that the AVERAGE veterinary cost PER CAT that I rescue from that shelter is $610.00. This is mainly due to the Upper Respiratory Virus that seems to take hold of every poor soul in the place. It doesn't take a math wiz to know that I can't rescue from there every single time. We're still taking cats from this shelter, but it's financially very difficult, as so many other fledgling rescues have found.
We're still taking homeless cats from the public - many from the city where the high kill shelter is located - preventing them from going into that disease infested building. It's a tough juggling act to insure that money is there to take care of them all.
Why do I always feel like I need to apologize when I don't take cats out of the high kill shelter? Tomorrow is their vet day - many may die. If I had taken 4 cats from that shelter it still wouldn't have been enough. It'll NEVER be enough until that city gets it's head out of it's ass and starts operating like a shelter of the 21st century.
Until then? I'll save the guilt for something else.
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3 comments:
kudos to you and the foster mom for rescuing those that you did. I said a little prayer for the ones at the bad sad excuse of a shelter. I, like the choir reading this, fantasize about having a warehouse with all the bells and whistles that I could keep a few rescues from the bad shelter until I found them a home.
Anyone with vet connections in this backwards city may want to see if they could arrange a cheap spay and neuter day for the public.
Also I feel that the Hamilton Tiger Cats would be wonderful sponsors for this place, don't you?
glad that foster mom came back... it is hard to bounce back from something terrible like ringworm.
I know it is terrible but you have to do what you can with what you have... and you saved that little boy. :)
Is there ANY WAY that we can get their head out of THEIR ass?
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