Adopt-a-Cat Month

You can find pedigreed cats, like Toy here, at a shelter

Just a short post today. I wanted to be sure everyone remembers that June is Adopt-A-Cat Month. If you've been thinking about adding a cat or two to your life now is the time. And don't just think about the kittens, adorable and huggable as they are, but check out the adult cats too. With an adult cat you can see what you get without having to go through that sometimes trying kitten phase.

Kittens in a shelter

Another consideration is a special needs cat. Maybe your local shelter or PetFinder.com has a cat with only three legs, or one that is blind or one that has been abused or neglected. If you have the patience and the love these can be some of the best cats around.

One such cat appeared recently in Toronto. It was found inside a garbage bag inside a box and, get this, she had a stomach tube in her! Someone had cared enough at one time to spend the money to have this tube placed so surely she had a good home at one time. Read more about it here. I would think that some local veterinarian would remember treating this cat. I hope things work out for her. I sure would like to know the whole story, wouldn't you?

Dog rescues kittens

I will never understand what brings people to abuse animals in such horrid ways. Here in Iowa we’ve had several incidents this year that were picked up by the media. One was of a litter of kittens dumped in a trash bag and thrown into a trash receptacle. All of the kittens died except one. That one was rescued and eventually adopted. One happened in my own sister’s neighborhood. Several litters of kittens were unceremoniously dumped in a ditch. She saved the ones she could, took some to the shelter and is now trying to find homes for the last two (one of whom is pregnant!).

Now we have an even worse incident involving a litter of kittens. The links at the end of this post will lead you to the full story but basically some horrible person “packaged” a litter of kittens in a cat food bag and threw them out onto the road. At least one car ran over the kittens killing all but two of them but finally a dog found them and dragged them home to his angel of an owner. The kittens were so young that she wasn’t able to care for them and called all the area rescues to find someone who could. Eventually she got ahold of the Raccoon Valley Rescue. They took the kittens in and nursed them back to health. Very soon those two remaining kittens will be looking for homes.

Of course this is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. What about the hoarders, the puppy mills, and other folks who think that an animal is there for them to beat on? Why do people do these things. Hoarding is caused by a mental disorder that makes the sufferer think they are “helping” the animals they collect. Puppy mills are run by greedy people who have no regard for the welfare of their charges only that they keep on producing. And abusers? I have no idea what their problem is. And unfortunately many animal abusers eventually graduate to abusing people as well.

Original newscast:

http://www.whotv.com/news/who-story-dog-rescues-kittens-20111129,0,5285512.story

Follow-up coverage:

http://www.whotv.com/news/who-story-kittens-find-a-home-20111206,0,2953726.story

Story as told by the rescue folks:

http://raccoonvalley.com/SN/Bagkitties.html

What do you think? Is there a way to stop this? Have you ever rescued an animal from one of these situations? Have you adopted a pet that was rescued? I’d like to read of your stories.