Shelter's "mistake" saved one kitty's life!

This is Cherry, who I pulled from the shelter last Thursday, the day she was due to be euthanized because she was "hissy, dilating pupils, unhandleable, feral...

They called and left a msg on the hotline that a cat was picked up with a microchip that was registered to our rescue.

I emailed saying I'm coming, then shortly after they said no, sorry but the cat had been chipped by mistake..umm, okay. Now I'm thinking, who is this cat, etc, and found a spot at one of our barn homes and went to get her. I believe in fate, and for some reason this mistake was made, so she crossed my path.

Brought her home until she was spayed, and discovered this great big, gentle, cuddly, purring sweetheart. I love her already, she has this really big presence about her, intelligence, emotions, knows and appreciates being saved, or all of the above?...

A VERY special kitty for sure, a keeper, if only "the girls" would let me

Spayed yesterday and now available for adoptions. I won't take her to our wknd adoption venue, but rather get her adopted from home, she doesn't deserve anymore stress.

Yay it worked this time!

(that was time #3 I tried to share this story)

The first two times I went into a longer version of her rescue and the darker side of the trip to the shelter that day.

I pull as many as I possibly can from the shelter that are on death row. Their death row is the feral cat barn. The last stop, end of the road...

I've only been inside the feral cat barn once, and believe me, it was purely accidental...I was there to pick up a momma and litter of 6 babies about 3 weeks old who were about to be killed. While loading them in my car, a new volunteer came up and asked if I had seen the other litter of orphaned kittens there. What?! No...follow me she says...there I was, as I glanced around it became immediately clear, I was in "the room". I flew out of there and stood frozen, and bawled.

The sheer terror, all eyes locked on me, pleading, sad and hopeless stares, I was their ONLY chance, a small hope, please take me home, I'll be a good kitty, I am sooo scared, please save me....please don't go!!!!

I will NEVER, ever lose that image as long as I live. Permanent scar.

Lucky for me it was a slow day because I pulled every single cat out there that day.

Yes, I am crazy. lol-

However, the fact is, this scene is everyday there. I know it, and I can't do anything about it. It crosses my thoughts every single day, I know there are a roomful, up to 65 a day...I know, unbearable, tragic, no words describe....

So while I was doing paperwork in the office for Cherry, (named from her red-pink nose and ears and dark orange color) my cat-lover husband wandered into "the room".

I had no idea, while I was chatting away on the drive home about how pretty she is, etc. he was silent. Once we were home and Cherry was safely in her new quarters and cozy bed, he told me.

Of course my dumb***had to pry it out, how many, etc. He had tears..

It continues to bother him, and I know he now bares the same scar as I do.

So wrong, just so wrong.

Oh she's a beauty! :heart3:

So, am I understanding this correctly? Ferals are trapped and held... and then killed. They're not simply not accepted, or not TNR'd? There are SO many TNR organizations in California. I know it's a big state, but ... no resources from Maddie's Fund or FixNation? I don't understand what the feral cats are doing there to begin with.

And cats in the shelter that are adoptable are relocated to the barn before being killed?

There are several people on TCS that work with kill shelters (because there aren't alternatives where they live). It takes a stomach I don't have to do that.



I'm so glad you were able to save Cherry. :rub: :rub: :heart3:

Vibes for finding her forever home!

There are several places in the bay area that are no kill shelters, Peninsula Humane, Marin Humane, SPCA, and many rescue groups like ours, FOF (fix our ferals) Friends of Animals, Solano Feral cat group, etc, etc.

The cats in our county, feral or not, if they are picked up as a stray or surrendered by the Humane Society in my town (I fight with them all the time about their deceptive policy of "no kill") or the Animal Control, they are automatically shipped up to the county shelter, and they do the dirty work. They have a lower adoption rate than just my group ALONE, which is bad for a shelter, and even when adoptions pick up there, there are waaay more cats coming in daily than they can adopt out, so the kill rate is very high, as I said, up to 65 a day.

That high daily amount is fast approaching too, during kitten season.

They can only keep so many cats there up for adoptions, so many, many tame, sweet cats and kittens are killed.

For the most part, unless they just had an adoption which gives them an open space, everyone that goes there gets killed.

When there are cats adopted they replace them.

Otherwise they unload them right off the truck and straight into the feral cat barn. Don't let the name kidd you, it has been called that for a very long time, I assume before the cat population was so over the top, it is definitely NOT for only ferals.

We all work so hard, tirelessly, on TNR'ing and educating the public about spay/neutering, and offer help/free/low cost fixing.

It's all we can do, but still not enough.

Very, very sad.

Im so glad you got her, and that you save so many as well.

My shelter also will also euthanize any feral cats that come into the shelter, just because they are feral. Its so sad especially with how easy it is to TNR with the spay clinic doing it for $35 and they have a fund to help out if you cant afford it but are willing to trap any ferals you are feeding. My current foster cat is lucky to have made it out of the shelter, she is considered feral and she had kittens shortly after arriving at the shelter. Our shelter will not house pregnant cats or cats with kittens either.

LDG said:

Oh she's a beauty!

So, am I understanding this correctly? Ferals are trapped and held... and then killed. They're not simply not accepted, or not TNR'd? There are SO many TNR organizations in California. I know it's a big state, but ... no resources from Maddie's Fund or FixNation? I don't understand what the feral cats are doing there to begin with.

And cats in the shelter that are adoptable are relocated to the barn before being killed?
There are several people on TCS that work with kill shelters (because there aren't alternatives where they live). It takes a stomach I don't have to do that.

I'm so glad you were able to save Cherry.

Vibes

for finding her forever home!

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I know in my area the Humane Society and a couple of the NO kill shelters auto euthanize ferals. I was just talking to the diretor at the Humane Society the other day about this very subject. She told me they have so many cats that are adoptable come in that already overwhelm them that they just do not have the resources to keep the ferals and put the time into working with them. (So Sad) I have also been working with a couple of TNR places in this area who again are so overwhelmed with strays and ferals. Due to understaffing they are not even coming out to trap. If you call them for help they give you the trap and let you know what day the spay wagon is coming. They want you to trap the cats house them until the Spay Wagon date. Bring the cats in donate to have them done and then take them home house them for recovery and release them.

I live in an area with lots of woods. I have 35 acres and have become a dumping ground for strays and also ferals seem to make their home here. I was getting overwhelmed with cats and called for some help and these are the answers I was given. When I first started calling for help I was a little put off with the way they wanted me to do all the work and then donate on top of it. Now after seeing the sheer numbers I can understand where they are coming from.

Wow, she is beautiful   And yes, Im a believer that everything happens for a reason as well.

The scene you described breaks my heart   Why can't this world be perfect?!?!

You and your husband are amazing people with huge hearts, we need more people like you guys

Meowmmy_Aprile said:

I know in my area the Humane Society and a couple of the NO kill shelters auto euthanize ferals. I was just talking to the diretor at the Humane Society the other day about this very subject. She told me they have so many cats that are adoptable come in that already overwhelm them that they just do not have the resources to keep the ferals and put the time into working with them. (So Sad) I have also been working with a couple of TNR places in this area who again are so overwhelmed with strays and ferals. Due to understaffing they are not even coming out to trap. If you call them for help they give you the trap and let you know what day the spay wagon is coming. They want you to trap the cats house them until the Spay Wagon date. Bring the cats in donate to have them done and then take them home house them for recovery and release them.

I live in an area with lots of woods. I have 35 acres and have become a dumping ground for strays and also ferals seem to make their home here. I was getting overwhelmed with cats and called for some help and these are the answers I was given. When I first started calling for help I was a little put off with the way they wanted me to do all the work and then donate on top of it. Now after seeing the sheer numbers I can understand where they are coming from.

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Oh we're in the same position. That's how we got involved with cats to begin with. A litter of kittens was in the yard. We called around to local shelters, and no one would help. So I came online... and found TCS. :lol3: Four of those five came in over a varying period of time and were our first indoor-only kitties. We began fostering and adopting out and TNRing. There isn't even a low-cost speuter program within driving distance, we paid full fare at the vet at first. Of course, as a volume, repeat customer, we were able to work out a deal with them. :lol3:

Personally, I wish the shelters would at the very least simply refuse to accept feral cats. This type of policy forces communities to put TNR programs in place - or again, at a minimum, provide low cost spay/neuter options. It took about four years in Athens, GA from the time the HSUS stopped accepting ferals to the time they voted in funding for TNR, but they got there. :nod:

But IMO the WORST are the "no kill" shelters that mean they don't kill adoptable cats, but go ahead and accept and then euthanize feral cats. nfire:

Bless your heart

Momto3boys said:

Wow, she is beautiful :heart3:   And yes, Im a believer that everything happens for a reason as well.

The scene you described breaks my heart   Why can't this world be perfect?!?!

You and your husband are amazing people with huge hearts, we need more people like you guys :rub:

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As SadiecAT said (intended to be for this post, I believe! ) :heart3:

I just recieved some tragic news, that the director of the "high kill" shelter that Cherry came from has passed away during the night. She is our main contact there, the one who left the msg about Cherry, etc.

My heart goes out to her husband and family, first and foremost, but I have a huge concern now for her absence.

Although this shelter is responsible for doing the "dirty work" of euthanizing, it's because this woman's contacting me/my group when there are tame/adoptable cats/kittens due to be euthanized, we have saved sooo many, countless from death.

I can't help but worry now, who will speak for the cats???....I guess we can only wait and see....

OMG...... That is so devastating all the way around for this woman's family and for the cat's she was fighting to save. hno: I can only pray and hope that someone worked closely with this woman at the shelter and will honor her life by continuing to follow in her footsteps :cross: What a terrible situation for those cat's in "the room" I know this is a serious problem with shelters taking in feral cat's. It always ends badly.... The end Bless you SOOOOO much for caring so deeply and your husband sounds just as compassionate . Cherry IS a beautiful cat and thank God you could save her. The cat's can act SO different in an environment like that and can appear feral due to total fear. Such a sad, sad dilemma :shame:......... Oh my..... Please keep us posted, sending you truckloads of vibes for the cat's that someone WILL Step in and be their voice

Oh no, that's just devastating that she died

I really hope someone steps up to the plate and shares the same views as her.....I hope she can rest in peace knowing she was doing a wonderful thing