Monday, September 04, 2006

No dumping Allowed

I might have known that publishing my address could lead to trouble...
Some crazy person purporting to be named Michelle Hurst dumped her cat on my lawn when I was at work on Thursday, August 31st. My neighbour caught her and got her cell phone #, soI tracked her down and called the RCMP to press charges of abandoning an animal. I want to emphasize to the public that my rescue group does not have a shelter, as such, it is just a network of foster homes that care for stray cats. I feel that "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine" so if you want to get rid of your pet, don't dump it here! I am not like the SPCA, who have a shelter location, paid staff and many volunteers. I am a single person who has to work full time for a living, and I only do cat rescue on the side.

If someone dumps their pet on my doorstep, there may not be space and I do not have the money fundraised to care for additional animals. The cat abandoned her this week had horrible case of fleas, so I had to spend about 14 hours disinfecting all the rooms he had been in, and I had to reapply Advantage to all the cats in the shelter and my home.... Costly venture! A new cat requires a great deal of time and care and inspection,so having one show up unexpectedly in my garden meant I had to cancel my other plans that evening, and it also took the last cage I had available, which was reserved for a mother cat and 4 kittens... so they had to stay out in the wild, since this abandoned pet was taking up space...

When I phoned the abandoner, she refused to take my calls or answer questions about the cats name, age or medical history. I finally tracked down this woman's ex-boyfriend, who came to claim the cat a few days later. Here is the message I want to get out there: DONT MESS WITH ME AND MY CATS - This house is under surveillance and charges will be laid if I catch someone else abandoning their pet. Please do not take advantage of my kindness and soft spot for cats - I am doing the best I can and if people keep dumping on me, I may not be able to continue my rescue, which would be unfortunate for all...
Thank you for understanding, I can only rescue so many cats, I cannot do it all. My mission is to rescue cats that already live on the streets, not to save them from dumb owners...

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