A mini rant...

[zazi]

i just got off the phone with the local asscociation and am

I told them that i had rescued a 4-5 month old that had already been neutered and was planning on trapping the brother tonight as i have found a home for them and they said... they basically told me that i shouldn't have bothered as it will be impossible to get them used to people and that i should put them back where they came from as there are just too many cats around these days!!!!!!!!!

I can't understand these people... isn't two less cats on the streets a good thing? I'm not using up any of their resources to socialise them... i'm pretty miffed at them right now. The lady i have been dealing with has been helpful but... unbelieveably curt.

Anyway, ranting over. I just had to get that off my chest.

 

[jennyr]

Four to five months old isn't too late to socialize them! My two new ones are four months and already lapcats, two weeks after being brought in from the street. It depends on the cat of course, but that is ridiculous. So many TCS members have done wonders with cats much older than that. I share your frustration.

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by zazi

i just got off the phone with the local asscociation and am

I told them that i had rescued a 4-5 month old that had already been neutered and was planning on trapping the brother tonight as i have found a home for them and they said... they basically told me that i shouldn't have bothered as it will be impossible to get them used to people and that i should put them back where they came from as there are just too many cats around these days!!!!!!!!!

I can't understand these people... isn't two less cats on the streets a good thing? I'm not using up any of their resources to socialise them... i'm pretty miffed at them right now. The lady i have been dealing with has been helpful but... unbelieveably curt.

Anyway, ranting over. I just had to get that off my chest.

Many organizations have good intentions....and let me expand on probably why they are saying what they are saying. GENERALLY speaking, most people do not have the time to socialize older feral kittens (same premise with adult ferals really) so placing them in a home CAN be challanging...because if they aren't socialized, they will still act feral in the home. It takes a very understanding owner to work with a cat or kittens that want to hide all the time.

It IS worth the effort, and I agree it is good to find a suitible home IF you can socialize the kittens. But the other side of the coin some would argue is that by taking older kittens off the street to be placed into homes (when they are in managed colonies) means that older kittens in shelters are not being adopted and thus they are being PTS. So that is why in GENERAL..TNR includes returning older kittens and adult ferals back to their colony once they have been spayed/neutered. The goal of TNR is the stabilization of feral cats through trapping, neutering/spaying, removing and adopting the strays and young kittens and returning the adults and older kittens to their colony. There are often exceptions..and each caretaker must determine what is best for the colony they are managing.

I think what you are doing for these kittens is admirable...good luck.

Katie

 

[emb_78]

Originally Posted by zazi

i just got off the phone with the local asscociation and am

I told them that i had rescued a 4-5 month old that had already been neutered and was planning on trapping the brother tonight as i have found a home for them and they said... they basically told me that i shouldn't have bothered as it will be impossible to get them used to people and that i should put them back where they came from as there are just too many cats around these days!!!!!!!!!

I can't understand these people... isn't two less cats on the streets a good thing? I'm not using up any of their resources to socialise them... i'm pretty miffed at them right now. The lady i have been dealing with has been helpful but... unbelieveably curt.

Anyway, ranting over. I just had to get that off my chest.

OMG... Unreal

 

[leesali]

I completely understand your frustration. Just heard from local TNR group...they caught & neutered a 5 yr. old male with missing top teeth. The local adoption agency doesn't want the cat & claims it won't be adoptable. Meanwhile, this young male with missing teeth isn't even "feral"...I hear he is the most affectionate little guy they have.

Very sad.

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by leesali

I completely understand your frustration. Just heard from local TNR group...they caught & neutered a 5 yr. old male with missing top teeth. The local adoption agency doesn't want the cat & claims it won't be adoptable. Meanwhile, this young male with missing teeth isn't even "feral"...I hear he is the most affectionate little guy they have.

Very sad.

They probably think he is unadoptable due to the missing teeth and the fact that he is 5 years of age and came from an outdoor location. It is MUCH easier to place a cat that you know the history of, has no health issues and (unfortunately) is under 5 yrs. People still want "kittens" or youngish cats (1-3 years of age).

Katie

 

[zazi]

Yeah... pretty frustrating. I understand what TNR1 is talking about but in Dubai there is no PTS policy as there is no shelter. The foster workers here are all volunteer and none of the kittens in foster care get put to sleep. HOWEVER if the council picks up stray animals then they are put to sleep regardless of health or adoptibility. But the council and the association are two different entities. The only thing that is supposed to save a cat is having the left ear docked. That indicates that it has been neutered or spayed and so the council will not trap it...

What got me so mad is that ... these guys at the asscociation are so ad hoc. There is no policy that is public. So it'd difficult for people who are not in the "inner circle" to know what to expect... So like me... i'm a volunteer TNR but it's all so random that since day one i've never really known where i stand with regards to resources... not financial just in terms of support.

For example i was told during one phone call when i initially got these kittens spayed and neutered that somone would take them on as fosters. THEN when the lady got to our place she decided that they were too old at 8 weeks to be socialised!! And what got to me was that it didn't seem as though she had made that decision based on a set of criteria that they have. It was just a... on the spot decision and if you ask me, it was not the correct one.

At 8 weeks they would have easily been socialised. And on top of that, when i expressed an interest in doing it myself she was adamant that it was useless... I guess every organisation has it's weak points. On the one hand feline friends is fantastic and on another level it could be a little more forthcoming with policy just so the rest of us know what to expect.

 

[beckiboo]

I think its the lack of resources. Like TNR1 (Katie) said, the organizations are overrun with cats and kittens. They just cannot absorb all of the animals that are out there. So they learn to pick and choose.

However, you are one person, with two kitties. Do your own picking and choosing, and choose to try to socialize these guys.

It is very sad that not all the kitties can be saved. But your anger might be better aimed at the people who don't speuter, and contribute to the unwanted cats wandering the streets.

The toothless male kitty is heartbreaking. Poor old boy, he was probably a beloved pet once, and now is just being treated like an old cast-off. So very sad!

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by zazi

Yeah... pretty frustrating. I understand what TNR1 is talking about but in Dubai there is no PTS policy as there is no shelter. The foster workers here are all volunteer and none of the kittens in foster care get put to sleep. HOWEVER if the council picks up stray animals then they are put to sleep regardless of health or adoptibility. But the council and the association are two different entities. The only thing that is supposed to save a cat is having the left ear docked. That indicates that it has been neutered or spayed and so the council will not trap it...

What got me so mad is that ... these guys at the asscociation are so ad hoc. There is no policy that is public. So it'd difficult for people who are not in the "inner circle" to know what to expect... So like me... i'm a volunteer TNR but it's all so random that since day one i've never really known where i stand with regards to resources... not financial just in terms of support.

For example i was told during one phone call when i initially got these kittens spayed and neutered that somone would take them on as fosters. THEN when the lady got to our place she decided that they were too old at 8 weeks to be socialised!! And what got to me was that it didn't seem as though she had made that decision based on a set of criteria that they have. It was just a... on the spot decision and if you ask me, it was not the correct one.

At 8 weeks they would have easily been socialised. And on top of that, when i expressed an interest in doing it myself she was adamant that it was useless... I guess every organisation has it's weak points. On the one hand feline friends is fantastic and on another level it could be a little more forthcoming with policy just so the rest of us know what to expect.

That definately is frustrating. Have you expressed this frustration to the organization and asked for guidelines so that you know what to expect.

Katie

 

[eatrawfish]

That is frusterating. A friend of mine volunteers for a shelter in her area and had problems like that. She brought in some sick kittens she was fostering and one lady said "Oh, well take care of them!" and then got a call from a different lady the next day saying "They're sick, we're putting them to sleep." It was so frusterating because depending on who she talked to she had a good or bad time.

Anyway, good luck with the kittens!

 

[zazi]

i have been thinking about writing them a letter of suggestion rather than complaint. maybe i should get down to doing it once these guys are out of here