While our intake is technically closed, we did have one new arrival last night and will have another one tonight. Both baby kittens. Anything other than the odd baby kitten is impossible for us right now.
And we will have another covid (now adult) cat returned later this week.
Because, sadly, forever no longer means forever.
(Only accepting this one adult because he came from us in the first place and if we don’t accept he will likely be euthanized).
The little black bear from last night is a social media sale kitten.
The one tonight is a cruel owner dumping situation.
Sad stories come through every day.
It’s hard to say no. My guilt is soul crushing. But it’s irresponsible to continue to take on more, when even kittens aren’t being adopted.
We have a commitment to the 120+ cats already in our care. Cats awaiting dentals, spay/neuters and other procedures. They are our priority. Until we have foster space and more importantly, some financial cushion in our medical fund again, we have to make decisions that are super difficult. (The funds from our recent guitar chiminea fundraiser went to pay off our existing vet bills so we could get caught up again).
There are cats that won’t survive waiting to be rescued. I know that. And it kills me. Every rescue and shelter is full. It’s hard to know what to even suggest. There are simply too many irresponsible cat owners and too many cats to realistically save without help from everyone, everywhere.
What I find most challenging right now is dealing with the most abusive, verbally aggressive, horrible humans…it makes me question why we do this some days. This is a job that pays nothing - we haven’t had more than a day or two off (including weekends) since 2019 - and yet people feel entitled to be abusive in a way that’s so vulgar it’s shocking, often because they didn’t get their way. I realize mental illness can play a role but ultimately it’s people feeling entitled to behave/speak however they want behind a keyboard.
They say you need to develop a thick skin to run a rescue but why should we have to?
So that’s where I am friends.
And yet here we are…with two new arrivals that are now safe. Tiny reminders of why we continue to do what we do despite it being really, really, really crappy some days.
(Thanks to foster Katie and Nicola for their immense help with these two situations)
