We recently welcomed a new life form into our family -- a kitty cat. It had been wandering around the apartment complex of one of my wife's clients for the past 2 weeks or so. Several of the residents had left food out for her, but she had no roof over her head and was struggling to survive the very wet and stormy conditions.
The general thinking is that someone moved and simply left her behind.
I simply do not understand how people can do such a thing. A cat or dog (or any other animal kept as a pet) is a living and breathing being. It's not like a soiled article of clothing or an old appliance that you chuck into the trash. This animal SHOULD be considered as a member of your family unit. Most people wouldn't move away and leave one of their children by the side of the road, but cats and dogs seem expendable.
It's not that I am not sympathetic to the plight many families find themselves in during these rough economic times. With jobs hard to come by and social services shrinking all around, sometimes people are forced to pull up stakes, even when they would rather not.
But there are such things as animal shelters. In Pacific County, there are two such organizations and both of them are no-kill shelters. Is it too much to ask a person to show a modicum of compassion by surrendering your pet[s] when you are forced to leave them behind?
I've been in such a situation before. After graduating from grad school, my dad offered me a job working as a mitigation investigator with his law firm. This job necessitated a move from Kansas to Oregon. Initially, the plan was for me to move in with my dad and step-mother while I built up a nest egg to find a place for me and the wife.
Through begging and pleading, I was able to convince them to allow me to bring one of my dogs (Jenny Bear) with me. Unfortunately, this meant parting with the stray dog I had only recently adopted and our beloved cat, Muffy.
Though it was a difficult thing for me to do, I tearfully surrendered both to the local animal shelter. It was gut-wrenching, but I knew this offered both the best opportunity to be readopted and to find a loving family to become part of.
In the present case, our new kitty (Sami Jo) seems very happy to have a new place to call home. She still is a bit leery of our two dogs (Jaz & Princess), but I'm confident that she will warm up to these two gentle souls given time.
The big challenge for all concerned will be dealing with our psychotic 10 year old cat, Dylan. He is none too happy with this recent development and is acting freakier than usual. Hopefully, in time, he will see the advantage in having a buddy to pal around with. We have our fingers crossed. ;-)
The general thinking is that someone moved and simply left her behind.
I simply do not understand how people can do such a thing. A cat or dog (or any other animal kept as a pet) is a living and breathing being. It's not like a soiled article of clothing or an old appliance that you chuck into the trash. This animal SHOULD be considered as a member of your family unit. Most people wouldn't move away and leave one of their children by the side of the road, but cats and dogs seem expendable.
It's not that I am not sympathetic to the plight many families find themselves in during these rough economic times. With jobs hard to come by and social services shrinking all around, sometimes people are forced to pull up stakes, even when they would rather not.
But there are such things as animal shelters. In Pacific County, there are two such organizations and both of them are no-kill shelters. Is it too much to ask a person to show a modicum of compassion by surrendering your pet[s] when you are forced to leave them behind?
I've been in such a situation before. After graduating from grad school, my dad offered me a job working as a mitigation investigator with his law firm. This job necessitated a move from Kansas to Oregon. Initially, the plan was for me to move in with my dad and step-mother while I built up a nest egg to find a place for me and the wife.
Through begging and pleading, I was able to convince them to allow me to bring one of my dogs (Jenny Bear) with me. Unfortunately, this meant parting with the stray dog I had only recently adopted and our beloved cat, Muffy.
Though it was a difficult thing for me to do, I tearfully surrendered both to the local animal shelter. It was gut-wrenching, but I knew this offered both the best opportunity to be readopted and to find a loving family to become part of.
In the present case, our new kitty (Sami Jo) seems very happy to have a new place to call home. She still is a bit leery of our two dogs (Jaz & Princess), but I'm confident that she will warm up to these two gentle souls given time.
The big challenge for all concerned will be dealing with our psychotic 10 year old cat, Dylan. He is none too happy with this recent development and is acting freakier than usual. Hopefully, in time, he will see the advantage in having a buddy to pal around with. We have our fingers crossed. ;-)
Very nice that SAmi Jo has found a loving home. I also don't know why people can be so callous about that...I have a friend, in Berea Kentucky, who is on the way to bevocoming a cat lady. She was rescuing a group of kittens that were going to be drowned and suggested to their owner that his male cat should be sterilized...that horrified him...better to kill the offspring than prevent them.
ReplyDeleteI will be interested to hear how the new girl and Dylan get along. My observation after years of living with cats, is that males indeed do like buddies to pal around with, but females take those relationships much more...seriously. Male cats become like martial arts sparring partners...the females are in it for real.