Compassion Gone Extreme - A Deadly Game of Russian Roulette

One of the prime reasons I decided to take these cats (aside from the fact I was in the shelter lobby when the animals were being given up), is the calculation that they would be highly socialized having been restaurant (or "store") cats who were exposed to and use to handling by many people.

That calculation, along with the confirming information from the young man bringing the cats in and the former owner turned out to be correct.

Unfortunately, most of the cats in this organization were originally rescued as young, "feral" strays. While most have adapted happily to indoor living and have become socialized with their human caretaker (me), they remain extremely skittish and fearful around other humans.

They are thus, very hard to adopt out cats.

Most people seeking cats (and dogs) for adoption want animals who are instantly affectionate and outgoing.

Cats like Princess and Lucy.

This is, of course, not to say that Princess and Lucy will be "easy" adoptions (Is any animal, really?).

They are, after all, 8-years-old, and that alone will make their adoption possibilities more difficult than most young cats currently dying in shelters. This is especially true now has most shelters are now inundated with floods of "spring" (and summer) litters of kittens.

But, in this case, I weighed the pros and cons and opted for sociability with people over youth.

Only time will tell if that decision turns out to be a wise one for the organization. I just know at this point, we cannot take on any more animals with extreme shyness or lack of socialization with strangers.

Even the little Dandy Dinmont Terrier I am currently fostering, "Nemo" has "issues" with strangers. As cute, loyal, healthy and wonderful dog he is, Nemo will not be an easy adoption. -- Not at all. I will have to find someone for Nemo who has the knowledge, patience, understanding and empathy to go with him slowly and allow the dog time to adjust. -- Someone who will not interpret Nemo's initial wariness with strangers as proof positive, "He doesn't like me!" (God, don't we in rescue hate it when people, instead of trying to understand an abandoned animal's fear and confusion in a shelter, interpret the animal's behavior personally.)

Earlier today, I wrote about some of the struggles of shelters and rescues, especially this time of year when being called by everyone and their brother for "help."

"Please take Grandma's 15-year-old cat." "There's a Mom cat and litter in my back yard. Can we bring them to you?" "Junior's gone off to college and we don't have time to take care of his dog." "Our cats don't want to live here anymore."

On and on.

Many people decry the no kill rescues or shelters for not taking all these cast off or homeless animals.

"They didn't even respond to my emails!" "They never called back!" "They say they are full. But, why couldn't they take one more?" "They say they are no kill, but what am I going to do with this cat or dog now?"

But, while people complain about those no kills who (HAVE TO) draw limits on the number of animals they can take in at any one time, they might consider those who never draw limits.

Those shelters or rescues that never draw limits (or, say, "no.") are almost always, either shelters that kill or "collector" situations.

When I fist got into cat rescue in 1988, someone put me in touch with "Alice" (not her real name).

"Alice is a rescuer who takes in cats. She never says, 'no.' She will take anything.....old cats, sick cats, feral cats. Just call her and she will take the cats from you." I was told very confidently.

As I was dealing with strays, a number of whom were unadoptable or feral, I of course, called Alice.

And yes, Alice immediately agreed to take a very feral cat I had just trapped and had spayed. ("Linya", the gray feral cat, had also given me the very worst bite I ever sustained in my life, when out of naivete, I tried to pet her in the trap.)

But, when meeting Alice to give Linya to her, I immediately had a "bad feeling" about the situation.

First of all, Alice did not invite me into her house. She met me outside her building and hurriedly took the cat.

"Don't worry about her. She will be FINE. I will take good care of her." Alice promised me.

But, judging from Alice's disheveled appearance, the decrepit condition of the building in which she lived (and apparently owned) and a strong, cat odor emanating from both the woman and her surroundings, I knew deep down, I had just done the wrong thing in handing the feral Linya over to her.

Over the next few years, I tried to stay on top of the Alice situation, but I never did see Linya again. Alice simply assured me constantly that the cat was "fine."

When I was able to secure cat adoptions out of Pet Stop and Petco a couple of years later, I offered to take cats from Alice in order to find the animals responsible homes.

But, the cats that Alice brought us were so dirty, smelly and usually suffering from parasites or URI infections, we had to either immediately bathe or treat them for infections and flea/mite or worm infestations.

Although all the animals were neutered, up to date on shots and FeLv/FIV tested, their conditions were so poor that two of my most dedicated volunteers ended up quitting.

"As long as you are going to continue to take sick cats from this woman, we are not going to work with you anymore," Andy told me one day. Of course Andy had threatened the same, when I took cats from the shelter.

But, is was Alice's sad cats who eventually propelled Andy and his girlfriend, Joan, to officially act on their threat.

But, still, I continued to try and help Alice -- even to the point of warning other people in rescue NOT to give Alice any more cats!!!

One day, at Petco, I and another cat rescuer almost came to blows, when I screamed at the woman not to bring any more cats to Alice.

"ALICE CAN'T HANDLE IT!" I shouted. "She keeps taking cats in ten times faster than we can find homes for them! The cats are sick! You can't expect an old woman to care for dozens or maybe even hundreds of cats. We don't even know how many cats Alice has! No one has ever seen the inside of her building!"

But, the desperate Jane was not deterred despite my pleas.

"I have no choice!" Jane cried. "The cats are being poisoned and tortured by kids in my area. They set pitbulls on them. They throw rocks at them. I can't leave the cats where they are! I can't!!"

It was a God-awful situation made worse by other, equally horrible situations -- and my inabilities to convince anyone (either members of the public or other rescuers) to the seriousness of all of it.

Alice took cats from members of the public giving up pets, as well as people in rescue dealing with horrible and desperate situations like Jane's.

Alice always returned messages and never said, "No" to anyone.

But, eventually this "never say no" dropoff/dump/neglect situation for cats came to a head about 2002 when Alice one day had a stroke and had to be hospitalized.

Her adult daughter then had to deal with a situation of total filth, squalor, "collection" of all kinds of junk and three apartments filled with more than 140 cats.

Fortunately, Alice's daughter was a successful lawyer with plenty of money to hire contractors and junk collectors. She was able to donate to and enlist the help of many in the rescue community to take the healthier and more socialized of the cats. (I took 3). Peace Plantation took many of the cats. But, a number of the cats were so old or sickly, they had to be euthanized.

I never did find out whatever happened with "Linya."

Bottom line: Many people may not like it when being told "No" by no-kill rescues or shelters. But, "yes" doesn't always mean no kill and humane solution, either. The reality is we have too many animals and not enough people willing to dig their hands in and actively help.

Merely dumping animals on someone else is not "rescue."

Real rescues know their limits and HAVE to say, 'No."

The alternative is compassion gone extreme. -- A situation that too often turns into compulsive, slow and misguided neglect.

The tragic reality is, as long as we have so many cats endlessly breeding and being abandoned at will, it is forever a game of deadly and often cruel (in a multitude of ways) "Russian Roulette." -- PCA

*****

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This entry has 3 comments: (Add your own)

#3 Comment from sarahsayssing
5/21/08 12:07 PM | Permalink

This was a great piece, Patty -- truly informative. I know you have a soft spot for the semi-feral cats but I think you're wise to recognize that at the moment NYCA doesn't have the capacity to accept them right now. I hope that Lucy and Princess find a great forever home.

Ps. Jessie is sick sick sick this week and we're both going away for the weekend. I think we'll have to pick up a new dog foster on Tuesday of next week. Hope that's ok!
#2 Comment from jmuhjacat
5/20/08 5:06 PM | Permalink

That's exactly it, Patty, and we all need to keep saying it loud and clear: We all need to pitch in and rescue/adopt when we are able to provide good, safe, loving, healthy homes. We can't expect "someone else" to do it all. And perhaps most people do have times when the personal responsibility of caretaking is inconvenient. TOUGH. That's what being a mature and responsible member of society is about. Always has been. People who have kids and/or extended family living with them know this. And people whose family members include companion animals know it, too. They prepare for it, make room for it, and deal with it.
#1 Comment from cdonian
5/20/08 4:06 PM | Permalink

I adopted my current dog *because* no rescue group could/would take him -- even when I offered to pay all related-and-ongoing costs. But I knew upfront that they couldn't take him: He was/is the epitome of special-needs "unadoptable," and anyone who pulled him from the euth list would be his guardian for life -- which these groups simply can't do. So I did it.
And, yes, some rescuers lose perspective and become crazy animal-hoarders. I've seen alleged rescuers whose homes were stenchy trash-pits, with packs of dogs running around. Adoption clearly wasn't the goal: The dogs had no chance of adoption, since -- thanks to the "rescuer(s)" -- they were filthy, neglected, completely desocialized to humans, and had reverted to hardcore-and-hostile pack behavior.
Awhile back, an alleged-rescuer on LI went really off the edge. He got in over his head, hoarded rather than rescued, couldn't pay the bills -- so he stole dogs from peoples' yards, then offered them for adoption on legit animal sites. He was nabbed when lost-dog seekers saw his posts, and when one of his associates (who also worked for the local shelter) was spotted stealing a neighbors' dog. Until he was arrested, this fellow maintained a legit-looking rescue website and posted his dogs on respectable adoption sites.
And people now have to be wary of adoption offerings in general. Thieves, puppymillers and backyard breeders are claiming to be "rescuers," since it makes them look more trustworthy or sympathetic.

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Compassion Gone Extreme - A Deadly Game of Russian Roulette