Reflections On Animal Rescue
Don’t Look In The Box
When I started working with the rescue group at the adoption
locations I was warned “don’t look in the box”. People are always
bringing in animals they hope we will take. Often they carry them into
the store in cardboard boxes. The public doesn’t understand what ‘we
are full means’ and thinks there should be room for ‘just one more’.
Full means I have my extra bathroom and study shut off with cats
quarantined in them. I also have one or two cat condos in the living
room. There are probably some foster kittens or cats running loose with
my cats too. Logic tells me I shouldn’t take in any more. Then they
open the box to reveal some three to four week old kittens or a declawed
cat left behind in the back yard when the neighbors moved. How can I
turn them away? I know if I do they are most likely going to the local
animal control shelter only to be put down in a few days. It is VERY
hard, but we still have to say no too many times. It is much harder if
you look in the box.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – Real stories
from rescue
All rescue stories start sad even if the animal has come to us
because their human caretaker has died. Some, however, are worse than
others.
The Good: Monty’s ‘mom’ came down with Alzheimer’s and had to go into a nursing home. Without any family to take Monty he was at the mercy of a lawyer, who decided to put him down. Lucky for him a man who had done work for the woman brought him to us and Monty found a new home. This is a good story because Monty was homeless because his ‘mom’ was sick and couldn’t take care of him any more.
The Bad: Twinkles came to us injured. We were called because an injured kitten was seen behind a convenience store. She had an open wound on her left rear leg and the vet said it looked like a dog bite. No one said dogs were being let out to attack the cats so we assume it was a stray (with his own sad story I’m sure). The bite crushed Twinkles’ knee joint and she had to have her leg amputated or she would be in pain forever from bone splinters. She is getting along fine and gets lots of love in her new home. This is a bad story because the animal was permanently injured.
The Ugly: Squeakers was found as a 9-10 week old kitten along with his sister. The woman that saw and picked them up asked the teenage boys nearby if they had seen any others. The reply was ‘There was a black one, but someone kicked it to death this morning”. After she brought the kittens to us we noticed that Squeakers wasn’t breathing right. X-rays revealed his diaphragm was ruptured and the intestines were pressing on the lungs. The vet said it was from trauma; most likely he escaped the kicking that killed the black kitten that morning. We had the surgery performed to correct the problem and Squeakers recovered completely. This is an ugly story because the kitten’s injuries were caused intentionally by humans. Squeakers didn’t pose a threat to the boys. It was out of meanness. Often people who abuse and kill other people started on animals as a child.
