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Poor little Emily, PTS by accident

post #1 of 39
1/12/10 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 
Not the kitten we fostered, but another one. She has been at the shelter quite a while, spent a couple of months at one of the vets' offices available for adoption, had no luck, and came back. She was just spayed to improve her chances.

Apparently an inexperienced volunteer had two cats out at the same time, and got them switched when they were done. This morning, the other cat (who proved not to be very adoptable) was supposed to be put to sleep, but the worker got Emily out of the cage with the other cat's tag and put her to sleep.

Emily was a little feisty, but a nice kitty anyway, and she deserved a better chance.

Here's her PetFinder photo, until it's taken down.

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post #2 of 39
1/12/10 at 3:23pm
That is terrible.
They need to be more careful.
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post #3 of 39
1/12/10 at 9:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mews2much View Post
That is terrible.
They need to be more careful.
I agree.

You poor, sweet baby. Just look at her: she's adorable!

I'm so sorry you were taken before your time, Emily. I hope you're happy at the Rainbow Bridge.

Rest peacefully, sweet Emily.
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post #4 of 39
1/12/10 at 9:17pm
Unfortunately, in larger shelters this is all too common. Which is why some of them have collars with names/ID numbers written on them.

Poor girl - play happily over the Rainbow Bridge.
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post #5 of 39
1/12/10 at 9:32pm
ah shame man, thats awful. RIP little Emily
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post #6 of 39
1/12/10 at 10:26pm
That is just so sad
Hopefully she is wanted and loved now
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post #7 of 39
1/13/10 at 2:50am
Oh no, what a needless, sad event.

Sweet Emily you were loved on earth..play happily at the bridge.

The shelter needs to change its procedures.
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post #8 of 39
1/13/10 at 11:22am
RIP, Emily. That shouldn't have happened.
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post #9 of 39
1/13/10 at 11:50am
That is so awful

I hope they will discuss their procedures after this. This should never happen.


Rest in peace, sweet girl
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post #10 of 39
1/13/10 at 12:22pm
Oh, no.. That poor beautiful little girl! It's very, very sad, taken too early..

R.I.P. Emily, you gorgeous girl.. You are an angel now
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post #11 of 39
1/13/10 at 12:52pm
What an absolutely terrible thing to happen. That we have to put animals to sleep in the first place, but to mix up two cats? I am quite mad after reading this. I hope that shelter worker gets a stiff talking to.
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post #12 of 39
1/13/10 at 12:55pm
How sad. Poor sweet little Emily. Play happily, little one.
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post #13 of 39
1/13/10 at 3:03pm
That is very sad.
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post #14 of 39
1/13/10 at 3:12pm
It's so unfair.

You are not forgotten Emily.
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post #15 of 39
1/13/10 at 4:58pm
It's not the first time I've heard of such a mistake either. Emily may or may not have found a forever home, but it shouldn't have happened. May she rest in peace. My heart goes out to the volunteer, simply because if it was an accident, she/he is probably having a hard time living with themself. I know I would be devastated. People sometimes don't understand the consequences of their actions and that is a terrible way to find out...both for little Emily and the volunteer.

I was curious why no one questioned euthanizing a newly spayed kitty?
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post #16 of 39
1/13/10 at 6:31pm
Thread Starter 
Had Emily been anything other than a black cat, the euthanasiast (?) would have double-checked everything, but I suspect she just assumed they were thinning the number of black cats at the shelter.
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post #17 of 39
1/13/10 at 7:43pm
That's even sadder if double checking is the standard, but wasn't done because she was black. Such a beautiful little girl.
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post #18 of 39
1/13/10 at 8:31pm
My God... what a mistake...

RIP poor Emily...
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post #19 of 39
1/13/10 at 8:36pm
Godspeed, Emily - with the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I am sure that there are plenty of newly arrived angels waiting over RB to give you the love & cuddles that you were denied here on Earth.
Run happily over the Bridge and join our TCS RB kitties - you can never be hurt again...
....I am also hoping that the volunteer is given peace and the courage to keep on working with the kitties. What a hard lesson to learn and may others learn from his/her mistake
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post #20 of 39
1/13/10 at 8:44pm
That's disgusting. I mean really how stupid can they be? We get a LOT of cats in at our shelter and have 3 separate areas for them. Nobody gets anyone confused. Even if the cats are the same color we know them by name and personality.
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post #21 of 39
1/14/10 at 12:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinder View Post
That's even sadder if double checking is the standard, but wasn't done because she was black
Was this person pulled in the office about it, because they should have been to make sure it doesn't happen again...... Very lazy IMO if it was "assuming"

Play happily at the bridge Emily

________________________________________
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post #22 of 39
1/14/10 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosiemac View Post
Was this person pulled in the office about it, because they should have been to make sure it doesn't happen again...... Very lazy IMO if it was "assuming"

Play happily at the bridge Emily

________________________________________
I have to agree. As someone with six black cats, knowing that "thinning" them out is such a common practice that it is never even checked or questioned bothers me more than someone making a mistake. Yes, I know they're not adoptable, but for a shelter worker to accept that consequence without question is disturbing.
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post #23 of 39
1/14/10 at 5:46pm
Thread Starter 
I have to say it upset me, too, but the original error was made by a volunteer, apparently. Not everyone cares about cats as much as we do; a number of our volunteers are court cases doing court-assigned public service, and many of the rest are high-school students doing required volunteer service. (And we won't even discuss what you call it when you require people to do work for no pay.)

I'm unhappy with the girl who does the euthanasia, but I have never been on "close" terms with her, and she certainly has my sympathy; imagine coming to work every day knowing you are going to have to kill perfectly good animals that day.

But the shelter director is on vacation. When the assistant director discovered the error, she was very angry. She had personally arranged for the spay to improve Emily's chances. So yes, I imagine there were repercussions, but that's none of my business.

As it is, we have about 4 black cats right now, so I hope the incident will tighten up policies.
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post #24 of 39
1/14/10 at 6:04pm
Sending prayers and vibes that miracles happen for the remaining black kitties
I shudder to think of what might have happened to my Cinders & to my Toddles, if they'd wound up in a shelter
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post #25 of 39
1/14/10 at 7:21pm
What a sad thread Is the other cat going to be PTS? Such a sad situation for so many people. I can't even imagine...

RIP, little girl.
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post #26 of 39
1/15/10 at 1:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
a number of our volunteers are court cases doing court-assigned public service, and many of the rest are high-school students doing required volunteer service.
That's so wrong!. They need people who can show compassion towards an animal, and especially ones who know what their doing
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post #27 of 39
1/16/10 at 7:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by white cat lover View Post
Unfortunately, in larger shelters this is all too common. Which is why some of them have collars with names/ID numbers written on them.

Poor girl - play happily over the Rainbow Bridge.
Exactly. At the shelter I used to work at, everything that came through the doors got a disposable collar and we'd put their ID info on it. Before we put anything down, we always had to match the collar to the cage cards. It really help cut down on accidents.

Those disposable collars are super cheap. Maybe you could suggest your shelter get some and make sure all pets are matched to their cards so in the future accidents like that don't occur. http://www.tabband.com/item.asp?iid=16

I'm sorry about sweet little Emily. Play happily over the Rainbow Bridge little one
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post #28 of 39
1/16/10 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosiemac View Post
That's so wrong!. They need people who can show compassion towards an animal, and especially ones who know what their doing
I agree. I've tried to teach some of the high school students how to handle cats; most have no idea.

They just think this is an easy way to get in their volunteer time.

Personally, I would require every one of them to assist at a few euthanasias. Can you imagine the effect that would have on their attitudes toward spay/neuter, keeping their cats/dogs under control, etc? If the purpose of the volunteer work is to help in education, that would be one way to get there, in my opinion.

I'm pretty sure the originally intended cat was euthanized, too, but I don't know who it was. Just because the mistake was made didn't make the other cat any more adoptable, which was the original problem.
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post #29 of 39
1/16/10 at 4:18pm
It breaks my heart.
Poor babies.
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post #30 of 39
1/16/10 at 4:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
I agree. I've tried to teach some of the high school students how to handle cats; most have no idea.

They just think this is an easy way to get in their volunteer time.
Gosh, if the volunteers are going to care so little and be this irresponsible, I'd rather throw them out of the shelter and give them their volunteer time for free than allow them to go anywhere near the precious cats. This was a sad sad mistake, I'm glad it seems your Assistant Director is going to want to do something about the processes...

Rest in Peace, sweet Emily. Your needless death will hopefully reduce the number of such sad accidents in future
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