Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Blog the Change

We wanted to talk about how hard it can be sometimes for the public to understand why the rescue responds the way it does at times. When mom does an adoption, she will give adopters the rescue information and remind them that the main number is a cell phone - and the rescue can get upwards of 200-250 calls PER DAY. Leave voicemail and someone will get back to you but it may take 24 hours. Mom will give people adopting our fosters OUR information.

Of those phone calls, the majority are people asking for help. Or more to the point, "telling" the rescue that they can't keep their pets and have to leave them with the rescue. It can be exceedingly frustrating. And remember...the main goal of our rescue is TNR. The head of the rescue is very reluctant to take owner surrender animals (unless they are previous adoptions). She will make suggestions and give ideas and try to educate, but it doesn't always work.

And then you get calls like the rescue got last week. A neighbor noticed cats wandering near a house where the people had recently moved out. The cats were getting skinnier and skinnier and the lady knew she had to do something. She contacted several groups and said our rescue was the one that called her back. Volunteers went out and it was a disaster. The house was trashed. There were cats inside and out. Some already dead. Some in VERY bad shape. Some were feral as well. Luckily the neighbor that reached out agreed to help with the ferals, so they were medical checked, spayed/neutered and returned to the neighborhood. The rest are now in our care - about 30 to 40 cats. In this case, the news was also contacted and came out to do a story...which will hopefully help bring in some donations and adoptions. (we can't imbed the story, but you can see it by clicking here)

Which leads us to change.....what can YOU do?? Step up...volunteer, get involved in TNR, foster, educate or donate (or all of them).

The first step to change we believe is TNR - control the population and the rest gets a little easier.
Allie - our feral girl

caught - and not happy about it
but spayed, released and cared for


21 comments:

  1. Oh that is so great that the neighbor called. If only, we can get more people to help the feral cats but there are a lot of people that do do it now. Great post.

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  2. Thank goodness a neighbour called for the cats to be rescued from there and they are now spayed or neutered and given mush needed food. We hope they all find loving families.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

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  3. Great post. So glad the neighbour called for those kitties.

    Purrs xx
    Athena and Marie

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  4. Amen, sister! Get 'em fixed, people! But, I'm preaching to the choir. We all have to get the word out; talk to the guy in line with you waiting for a coffee, talk to the person you buy your stamps from, talk to your family members! Feral cats can be managed, and having cats is a life-time commitment.

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  5. We are big supporters of TNR! I would love to see all communities have access to mobile spay neuter vans, too.

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  6. As always, kudos to those who care :)

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  7. It's hard being a rescue - my human doesn't think she could do it because she would get SO fed up with the people trying to dump their poor cats. It takes real heroes to step in and get things done, like with that trashed house and all those kitties.

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  8. TNR is a necessity in every town. Groups are doing a public service and should be compensated by the towns. The folks who run and volunteer like yourself are heroes.

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  9. Just tweeted this important info with the proper hashtag #BtC4A (that way it will be seen with the rest).......thanks for the inside info, some of this I knew because mu step daughter manages a rescue, but the general public is totally clueless. I am sure the news story will help and that is a GOOD thing!

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  10. Rescues like yours do an amazing job ! We're glad the neighbor called for all these kitties. Purrs

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  11. Stories like that make us so very sad ... and yet grateful there are bipeds who will get involved and help!!!
    Cammie!

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  12. grate post guys...N we R happee sum one stepped in ta help de naybor hood kitties; sad that de outcome waz az it iz.....if we haz said it onze we haz said it 50 timez & will say it 500 million mor....high paws N headbonx two all thoze who help out in what ever way they can....with 500 million thanx two yur mom her self ♥♥♥

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  13. How great the neighbor tried to help, but how sad the kitties were in this shape. We admire those who work with rescues.

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  14. Thank goodness for a caring neighbour and raspberries (and worse) to those who abandoned the poor cats. It's wonderful what the rescue does but such a shame the work never ends. If only people would learn that cats are not disposable.

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  15. Paws up for that neighbor being alert (and persistent) enough to get help for those cats. We hope that the news doing a story helps get some adoptions and donations to support the influx of cats! Rescues do heroic work that is often misunderstood.

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  16. The rescue-group to which I belong always tries to return calls, though we can't always offer much in the way of help. Everyone wants to give up their cats, but there isn't room to take them. It's discouraging at times, but returning calls is courteous and, I think, shows that someone cares.

    I wonder what goes through the minds of people who have so many cats and don't look after them. They can't really care about them, especially if they abandoned them. Incomprehensible.

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    1. we do return all calls....it is just frustrating that people don't listen and hear the "it may take 24 hours to get back to you" part and then get mad because they have to wait.

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  17. Probably the hardest thing about rescue is getting people to care and be responsible.We really appreciate the hard work that rescues do.

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  18. That's so sad some of the cats didn't make it - but I'm so glad the neighbor called for your help. The work you do is of such great importance! It's true, more needs to be done with TNR to stem the flow so we can all take care of the rest. Keep doing your great work!

    Thank you for blogging - and being - the change for animals!
    KimT
    Be the Change for Animals

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  19. so very glad she called.. so many people won't want to get involved.

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