Given up to the Humane Society. Why?

I'm sure many of you have dealt with this before. Loki was given up by his owners to the Humane Society 2 weeks before I adopted him. Despite his weird little biting fetishes, and his annoying curiousity that compels him to knock trinkets off my chest of drawers while I'm sleeping (like he's Isaac Newton and exploring gravity), Loki is the most wonderful and sweetest cat! He is so loving, not only to me, but also to Possum, and he starts his deep purring as soon as you start petting him.

Now I'm really, really glad they gave him up, but I just look at him and I'm baffled as to why anyone would want to give up this sweetheart. Of course he wasn't neutered till he got to the Humane Society, so that might have had something to do with it, but that's their own fault.

Tricia

lol that is there job from god, Gravity testing.
and most cats have that annoying curiousity thing going on.
lol i open my desk at home, and have cats trying to look in from all angles

I volunteer at the local Humane Society & cannot believe the stupid reasons! One woman surrendered her neuter cat because he chewed through 4 of the babies toys. Another because her cat was "too fat". In so many cases, the kitten simply got big/ugly, got expensive, or developed behavioral issues(all too often because of being un-altered). Sad, isn't it?

At least their loss is your gain!

I have heard of people who give up cats when they start to look and act like adults even when they have been altered. They give up the adult and get a kitten so they can repeat the cycle. It's like they don't realize that cats just like all animals grow up and if they don't want an adult they shouldn't get a kitten.

Originally Posted by theimp98

lol that is there job from god, Gravity testing.
and most cats have that annoying curiousity thing going on.
lol i open my desk at home, and have cats trying to look in from all angles

We all know what happened to the curious cat

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It could have been for any number of reasons.

For example if you seen the photo's of my rescued kitten, you would say why am I giving him up?
My reason, is I saved him from the streets and ill health. Once he's better, I have to find him another home or give him to a shelter

It's going to break my heart to surrender the little angel. He's just so innocent and adorable and cuddly.

Originally Posted by DIEGO

It could have been for any number of reasons.

For example if you seen the photo's of my rescued kitten, you would say why am I giving him up?
My reason, is I saved him from the streets and ill health. Once he's better, I have to find him another home or give him to a shelter

It's going to break my heart to surrender the little angel. He's just so innocent and adorable and cuddly.

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Oh everyone understands surrendering an animal you rescued from the streets but can't keep.

The problem I have is people who surrender a cat because of "behavioral" issues they created, or regular cat behavior they don't understand. Cats bite, scratch stuff, kick litter around, knock stuff off tables, chew on stuff, and occasionally have out of the litter box accidents. In most cases these things can be avoided, redirected or corrected if you want to put the effort into it (and I did say "most" because we've all seen the heartbreaking cases where it can't be fixed). Most of us will remember a thread about how many cats surrendered for "litterbox issues" come from homes where the box isn't cleaned

Unneutered toms spray stuff, fight and generally make everyone around them miserable (unless you're a responsible breeder and are ready for this). Kittens, although adorable, are a PITA much of the time getting into everything not nailed down.

I have a problem with people who would sentence an animal to death or imprisonment for doing what comes naturally to it.

I too wonder why someone gave away Tonka.

He is the sweetest most loveable of my bunch.

The others have been with me since birth and I have threatened numerous times to get rid of them (not seriously ).....

Originally Posted by Denice

I have heard of people who give up cats when they start to look and act like adults even when they have been altered. They give up the adult and get a kitten so they can repeat the cycle. It's like they don't realize that cats just like all animals grow up and if they don't want an adult they shouldn't get a kitten.

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That's disgusting to me.

If anything, adults cats in my experience are more loving with time!!! Grrr.

We adopt Fred & Ginger from a local shelter. They were surrendered because the owner were not able to keep them. Before they were sent back to shelter for adoption, they spent 3 months at a foster home (sick). We guessed the kitties were between places for ~ 5 months. They are both long so they look bigger, I guess this is why no one wanted them beside the fact they must be adopt as a pair being brother & sister.

I'm glad the owner surrendered them. I don't think I can find another pair as adorable, fun, sweet, & cute kitties.

Bunny was surrendedred to the SPCA twice. The first, her owners were moving overseas and couldn't take her there. (Military family I believe.) The second claimed allergies. What I really think was going on, was behavioral issues! Bunny for almost 3 years had issues with peeing on the carpet either in the bathroom or in the family room. With some work she's gotten better. We found that she does stress over things like adding a new pet to the house and that makes it worse. She is just the sweetest girl though!

Ozzie was rescued from the streets as a stray (and it showed!) when we adopted him, and Spike had been from a litter of kittens born at the Humane Society (although he was returned three or four times because he was "too hyper" -- imagine, a four-month-old kitten being hyper ). I imagine Spike's mother got dumped on the Humane Society because she was pregnant and the owners didn't know what to do with her.

My friend used to work at the Humane Society, where she heard some of the most ridiculous reasons to give up a pet (and some of the most heartbreaking). A lot of it is what other people said: behavioural problems the owners created but couldn't be bothered to fix, the cat got pregnant, the cat was spraying, the cat bit the children, the cat had a medical problem the family couldn't afford (or couldn't be bothered ... grrrr) to pay for, and so on. Because we live in a university town, every April/May there's a string of cat and dog surrenders to the Humane Society because the students are going home (or moving into new apartments) and can't bring the pets they adopted back in September with them. This also happens in late August/early September, when the students move into new apartments and find out they're not allowed to have pets.

Yes, that's how we got Whitey. The person that had him before us gave him up because she was caught with him in an apartment that didn't allow animals. Supposedly this woman was well off too (she's a friend of a coworker) but instead of moving to a different complex or hiding him for a few days, she gave him up.

From day one though we knew we were suppose to have Whitey. He has a few issues (i.e. thinks that the other cats are moving toys ), but he's the best cat!! He actually fullfils my wants for a dog

I should probably also say that although Spike was returned to the Humane Society for being "hyper" as a kitten, he is actually a special needs kitty and has some behavioural problems that are not the result of neglectful or ignorant owners. We didn't realize this until long after we had adopted him (he seemed like a normal kitten back then, but since then we've had actual normal kittens to compare him to, and Spike is not normal) and realistically, he needs to be in a certain kind of home, with a certain kind of caretaker. Lucky for him, J and I have that home and are those caretakers. (And luckily for all of us, we also have Oz to help keep Spike "contained." Thank goodness for Ozzie!)

Should I do a drumroll for this one?

The worst reason I ever heard to give up a cat was........


it had fleas That's a true story folks.


My cat Forest had been given up twice before he came to my home. I am happy he is here, and I think he feels the same way.

I don't think I could ever work at a humane society or shelter.. I would end up having like 20 cats trying to save them myself

The absolute worst reason I've ever heard (I worked in a shelter for a few years)....

Are you ready?







"He's not fun enough"

Yup. Sadly a true story. I've heard many others, but that was the absolute worst. Haunts me to this day.

I'm pretty sure Stimpy and the cat he came in with were left for behavioral/health issues. The person probably couldn't tell which was missing the box. Stimpy had a bladder infection/UTI so bad he was completely blocked and spent 3 days at a vet clinic. Stimpy is an awesome cat, and could have died if I hadn't already been super aware and paranoid about cat bladder problems (because of our other 2 cats). I know he is very happy now, so it's the other person's loss.

At the shelter where I volunteer, we've had a lot of cats surrendered because "my boyfriend doesn't like him." "We're moving out of state," is another popular reason -- as if a cat can't ride in a car.

But at least these people brought their cats to a shelter. How do you even begin to grasp the "reason" when someone throws a kitten out of a car on the highway?

That's what happened to our St. John, and it preys on my mind. It makes me doubt my own long-held belief in the basic goodness of people.

And it makes me wonder what I might be capable of if I ever got my hands on the person who did it.

I've volunteered at my local humane society for about a year and a half and I work only with the cats. I've seen some of the stupidest reasons that people have given up their cats.

-Did not meet expectations (Saw this as a reason for surrendering a turtle once too)

-Aggressive towards children (I doubt the children were innocent)

Those are probably the worst that I've seen. People are so ignorant sometimes. :/