Somebody TOSSED two cats in a box into an animal shelter lobby and RAN

This is another example of how some people surrender their cats and obviously it isn't the best way. Sometimes people surreptitiously arrive at the doors of an animal shelter and leave two or three cats in a cardboard box outside to be collected the next morning which is dangerous for the cat if it's in the middle of winter.

Other times they give up their cats in cruel ways but on this occasion the Brother Wolf Animal Rescue center in Asheville, North Carolina, United States Of America, reported that, "Somebody tossed two cat in our lobby. They opened the door, tossed a box in, sliding it across the floor, then ran out to a car waiting in the road that sped away."

Guilt?

How does that look to you as an outside observer? I'll tell you how it looks to me. It looks like they feel very guilty about what they're doing and they don't want to confront the shelter staff and explain to them why they are surrendering their cats. 

But this is stupid behaviour. No one is going to judge them. No one is going to criticise them. Shelter staff will, I am sure, accept cats surrendered even if the reasons are poor. That's because their primary objective is to care for unwanted cats and find a new home with them.

So it is very stupid to abandon cats in this way. Far better to face up to it and admit that you can no longer care for your cats and hand them over. You don't even have to explain why you are surrendering the cats. You just surrender them. You don't have to justify it.

It does indicate a cowardice on behalf of the people who tossed this box into the shelter lobby but I don't want to be too critical because we are all human and we are all, in some way, vulnerable and have our own weaknesses.

Still high numbers of cats given up

The cats' names are Juniper and Theodore. They were written on the box. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reports that annually in America, 6.3 million pets are surrendered which equates to 17,260 per day. Obviously, I'm sure that 99% of them are super surrendered across the counter in the animal shelter and not in the way described.

Stressful experience

We all need to be reminded sometimes that animal shelters are stressful places for cats and dogs to be rehomed. They are strange places. They are noisy places with strange people and strange goings-on. They are confined to cages and it's very difficult for them to behave normally and in an attractive way to do their best to find an adopter.

One caption on the video of the above-mentioned surrender said, "We always try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Not make quick judgments. Check our biases. Not to shame them for needing help. Some days, it is really hard to do that. Today is one of those days."

The video is on Instagram from the above-mentioned shelter. Sometimes these embedded videos stop working so if it has stopped I apologise but I don't control it.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brother Wolf Animal Rescue (@brotherwolfanimalrescue)

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Why does the no-kill cat shelter policy mean that 10% of the cats are killed?

You may have wondered why the much vaunted no-kill animal shelter and cat shelter policy results in 10% of the cats being killed. Surely "no-kill" means no killing whatsoever? I'm afraid not. 

What it does mean is that there is no killing i.e. euthanasia of healthy cats but exceptions are made for cats with severe medical conditions that cannot be treated causing significant pain and poor quality of life and cats with severe behavioural issues that pose a danger to life to humans or other animals and where rehabilitation efforts are unlikely to succeed.

These cats are euthanised. The term euthanasia would genuinely apply to a chronically ill and terminally ill cat but under any other circumstances it wouldn't really apply. We have to use the word "kill" under circumstances where the cat is euthanised because of behavioural issues.

There is a muddying of the waters in terms of the language used at cat shelters. However, the no-kill movement - which is the brainchild, as I understand it, of Nathan Winograd, American's greatest advocate of saving the lives of shelter animals in America - has reduced unnecessary euthanasia.

The no-kill philosophy focuses on saving all healthy and treatable animals and with that in mind it can dramatically reduce the number of animals euthanised due to the limits of space at shelter facilities and time limits.

The concept is there to focus the minds of managers and workers to use their best possible practices and imagination to find ways to save lives. And there's been a quite dramatic - I think it's fair to say - increase in the number of no-kill shelters in America over the past decade.

The euthanasia rate has dramatically dropped in America over the past decade too. It's still pretty high but much better. There is still work to do.

Some people decry the no-kill movement. I've read quite a lot about PETA but once again there is misleading language used against them in my view. But they seem to believe that killing feral cats is preferable to looking after them and putting them back on the street under TNR programs. 

I think that is a misleading idea about PETA. But ironically Nathan Winograd is in a running battle with PETA about saving cats and killing cats. Nathan Winograd hates PETA as he thinks that this very high-profile animal charity kills too many cats. Either they promote the idea of killing feral cats or they kill themselves and he consistently says this. It's a shame because both of great animal advocates. We don't want people on the same side fighting each other over policy decisions.

I'm told that in 2017 a milestone was reached when for the first time the total number of dogs and cats euthanised in US shelters fell below 1 million. The actual number is estimated at 800,000. I'm also told that it is difficult to obtain accurate data on the number of cats killed 10 years ago compared to the number of cats killed today at shelters. There's been a reduction though so no-kill has worked to a good extent but more work needs to be done.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has passed a law banning the retail sale of commercially bred cats

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, has passed a law (ordinance) which bans the retail sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores. People should understand that pet stores generally acquire animals from Commercial Reading Enterprises (CBEs). A more common term for these businesses is "puppy mills" or "kitten mills". A description which signifies that the animals are churned out with little regard for their health and for ethical breeding standards.

Image courtesy Nathan Winograd's newsletter.

Nathan Winograd writes that, "CBEs engage in systematic neglect and abuse of animals, leaving severe emotional and physical scars on the victims. One in four breeding dogs have significant health problems, are more likely to suffer from aggression, and are psychologically and emotionally shut down, compulsively staring at nothing."

He paints a horror story and thankfully under the new law pet shops can partner with rescue organisations if they want to stock animals for sale/adoption.

The law that is mentioned is one which is becoming increasingly commonplace across America in an acceptance that it is unethical to allow pet shops to purchase dogs from abusive breeders when there are many unwanted companion animals at shelters nearby.

This law will help to encourage people to adopt and rescue animals rather than purchase them, to educate the community about dog and cat puppy mills and kitten mills and thirdly to stop the abuse of these animals.

I'm told that the number of CBEs has declined by 30% across America. In Nebraska, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture's records show that 50% of the state's commercial dog and cat breeders have left the business.

Bethlehem City Council unanimously passed the new ordinance last Tuesday. News media reports that there are no current pet sellers affected by the law but it will stop future businesses doing deals with puppy mills and kitten mills. And of course it sends a very strong message to the community.

The ordinance states: "A significant number of dogs and cats sold at pet stores come from large-scale, commercial breeding facilities where the health and welfare of the animals are not adequately provided for.”

A council member, Grace Smith, said: "I know our furry friends in Bethlehem and throughout the communities, as well as their families, are very grateful."

The penalty for a pet store from selling or offering to sell a cat, dog or rabbit will be a $500 dollar fine for every animal offered in violation of the new ordinance.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Animal shelter staff threw away all blankets, towels, sheets, animal beds and other similar items

The Pennsylvania Humane Society, an umbrella animal charity working in partnership, as I understand it, with animal shelters, is seeking donations after a parvo outbreak contaminated items in one of their shelters.

Cat infected with feline distemper. Image in public domain.

In other words, a shelter within their auspices which has not been named by the way, but is in Altoona, was sadly affected by a feline panleukopenia viral outbreak (aka parvo) which is highly contagious. This resulted in the staff deciding to throw away all the items with which the infected cat had come into contact which included the ones in the title.

The shelter concerned ran a fundraiser which raised $1820 to help offset the medical costs.

The Humane Society is seeking donations to help with replacing the items that have been discarded.

There is also a need for funding to pay for paper towels because the staff, in cleaning up with bleach and OdoBan disinfectant, are using paper towels which are disposable. This is in order to minimise further infections and to try and put a stop to the outbreak as soon as possible.

RELATED: Best Disinfectant for Feline Viruses.

Bleach is a very good killer of this contagious virus. We are told that the shelter cats are vaccinated against feline panleukopenia. Unfortunately, the vaccine is not 100% effective. Cats are testing positive. Treatment by veterinarians is expensive hence the need for more funding.

The shelter has 37 cats in foster homes and 53 cats at the shelter. The cats and foster homes obviously helps with quarantine issues.

Feline panleukopenia is not invariably fatal but it is a serious and highly contagious viral disease. The prognosis is variable depending upon several factors including overall health, the cat's age and the timing and effectiveness of medical intervention. Kittens have a higher mortality rate while adult cats are often more resilient with a better chance of survival.

It is essential to isolate infected cats from other cats in the shelter and practice good hygiene to curtail the spread of the virus.

Source: The Altoona Mirror.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Jackson Galaxy is disappointed with the cat fancy and cat breeding

 It is no surprise to me that Jackson Galaxy, the world's most famous cat whisperer (cat behaviourist) dislikes or is disappointed with cat breeding and the breeds. Well, I have generalised and read his mind so I'll tell you what he says in his book Total Cat Mojo about the purebred cats and you can make up your own mind. 

He always adopts non-purebred cats. He does the right thing. Although he is high profile, he's very down to earth and a realist. He sees the big picture and the need to do the right thing and adopt rescue cat. He worked extensively in cat rescue before becoming a famous cat bebehaviourist.

Jackson Galaxy loved Barry deeply and misses him a lot. Photo: Jackson Galaxy.

He heads his section on breeding and the breeds with "The Puppet Master Enters: Purebred Cats".

You get a hint in that heading. He's saying that people are playing at God when they create new purebred cat breeds and create them for sale.

He explains that in the early days of the cat fancy there was no extreme breeding as there is today. For example, he explains that the Siamese cat's pointed coat was enough to distinguish that cat breed from the rest and it was and still is. 

And the Persian cat back in the old days was pretty much a standard-looking cat. There were no flat-faced oddities in those days. This is what he says. But today "breeding is an altogether different beast (so to speak), with organisations recognising anywhere from 44 to nearly 60 different breeds of cats (I think actually that TICA recognise more than 70)."

And he then goes on to talk about how the cat fancy developed in America in a detrimental way. He says:

"In the process, we have pushed cats' physical appearance to extremes, often without regard for the well-being of the cats being bred. We've made the Persian's face flatter and the Siamese space thinner and more pointed. Consequently, the changes we have imposed through breeding are in many ways detrimental to the Raw Cat."

The Raw Cat that he refers to is the natural domestic cat, the domesticated wildcat with a wildcat character beneath that domestic exterior.

He adds that:

"By selecting Persians for the brachycephalic (short-nosed) appearance, we have actually made it harder for them to breathe, increased the chance of skin, dental and eye disease, and made giving birth riskier and more difficult.

Scottish Folds are used as a model for studying pain and arthritis because the mutations that cause the folds in their ears also lead to painful degeneration in their bones and cartilage.

Manx cats are prone to back pain, constipation, and other elimination problems because of spinal cord deformities.

Maine Coon cats are prone to heart disease, and Siamese cats have a higher likelihood of asthma and hyperaesthesia. Sidebar from Michael: the modern Siamese is the unhealthiest breed and the Persian is in the top three.

RELATED: Siamese: The World’s Most Unhealthy Cat!

These are just a few examples. When you limit the gene pool, you increase the chance of dangerous mutations and disease. There is no other way around it.

Humans may be pulling the strings when it comes to cats' exteriors, but are we making any progress in understanding their inner world?"

As you can see, he is critical of a section of the cat fancy where they breed purebred cats to extreme meaning the anatomy becomes abnormal in order to create a cat which looks different and can be completely distinguished from the other breeds. 

The objective here is to sell more cats and to follow the breed standard accurately but breeders go beyond simply following the breed standard in their efforts to create more interesting cats at which point they create unhealthy cats as is emphasised by Jackson Galaxy.

When you rescue a shelter cat you save two lives

This is a very sweet, cat loving couple in America who have a wonderful relationship with domestic cats. That message comes across loud and clear in the video at the end of this article. Note: sometimes these sorts of embedded videos from news media website stop working. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

When you rescue a shelter cat you save two lives. Screenshot.

They've adopted all their cats from shelters and have seven. The lady says that rescue cats are begging to be loved and they will give love if given a chance. 

And she made a nice point about adopting a rescue cat at a shelter. She said that when you do that you of course, save the life of the cat that you have adopted because there is a chance that they might be euthanised if they stay at that shelter for too long because nobody wants them; and secondly, you potentially save the life of another rescue cat because you make room for the cat at the shelter. 

Often shelters are quite full and sometimes full to capacity so in adopting one cat you open up one space for a new rescue cat to be brought into the shelter.

I think that is a very nice way to explain one of the advantages of adopting a shelter. And the husband in this charming relationship says that if you visit a shelter and you meet the cats it's like meeting people. You will meet a cat or cats where there is some chemistry between you.

I am sure that there are many millions of people who don't believe that a human can have a relationship with a cat which contains that magic chemistry but I believe it can happen and you can make it happen at a shelter because you can meet a lot of cat sometimes.

Arguably, there is a much better chance of meeting a cat with that chemistry at an animal shelter than there is at a cat breeder selling a purebred cat. Cat breeders might have four kittens for sale or less. And kittens don't really have a formed character when they were young.

But if you meet a mature cat that has for some unfortunate reason found themselves at a shelter, they will have a character and this allows a connection to be made based upon your character and there's.

It's notable, by the way, that this couple have adopted black cats. That is unusual as well because typically, as you know I am sure, people tend to reject black cats at shelters and prefer to adopt kittens with a more interesting coat type.

Adopting a black cat from a shelter is a sure sign that the person is a true, died in the wool, cat lover. Both these people are. There is no question about it.

Video

Woman believes her cat is her father reincarnated which freaks out her hubby.

The title describes the feelings of a woman who has narrated her story on Reddit.com and it's an interesting one. The 47-year-old woman adopted her cat Benji because she was finding it hard to keep herself busy around the house during the daytime. She rescued him when he was so small that he could fit into the palm of her hand.

"My cat is the reincarnation of my late dad but my husband gave him to a shelter without my consent". This is a made-up image by MIKEB as we don't have a picture of Benji or his owner.

They developed a very close relationship and she believes that Benji is the reincarnation of her dad. She said:

This may sound crazy to some, but I really believe Benji is the reincarnation of my dad. When I look into his eyes, I feel something more than a cat. Like a cat born with a human soul. All the timing adds up, it all makes sense to me at least. Even if I am crazy the thought brings me comfort and I don't see anything wrong with it.

But she said that her husband was freaked out by her very close relationship with Benji. She believes that it made him feel uncomfortable particular by the fact that she felt that Benji was the reincarnation of her father. Her father died two years ago and Benji saved her she said. He is the best companion that she could have asked for.

While she was holidaying with her mother and sister her husband took Benji to a shelter (he said that he had taken him to a friend). When she returned from holiday, she couldn't find him and after a frantic search in and around the home, her husband told her that Benji was staying with a friend.

She demanded that he call the person to return her cat as soon as possible. He wouldn't do it but he did tell her who he had given the cat to which allowed her to make enquiries.

The person he said he had given Benji to was a co-worker. The woman contacted the wife of the co-worker and explained what had happened. She asked for Benji back. The co-worker's wife said she didn't know what she was talking about. This enraged her and she eventually discovered that Benji had been taken to a local shelter and there was no co-worker involved at all.

She tracked down the shelter and using all the documentation that she had at her disposal regarding ownership and a good argument, managed to convince the shelter to return Benji to her. Benji is currently with her sister because she has decided to divorce her husband apparently on the back of his behaviour concerning Benji. They might have been some background problems developing in any case.

She can't trust her husband. She logged a report with the local police against him and apparently has filed for divorce. Her family is supporting her in her decision.

The power of the domestic cat is huge when there is a close relationship.

It's the kitten dumping season. A minority are cruel to cats through their ignorance

The kitten season, as they call it, is upon us. This is the time when negligent and frankly ignorant people which represent a tiny minority of the whole allow adult cats to breed because they have failed to sterilise them.  This is my rant.

And so, thousands of kittens are brought into the world when they should not have been. Often, they are dumped at shelters or anywhere considered convenient to these ignorant people. As long as the can remain anonymous. Hidden from the eyes of the public.

Abandoned cat outside RSPCA Wirral branch. Image: RSPCA

RSPCA announce kitten season

The RSPCA have said that the kitten season is upon us. The RSPCA in Bedfordshire say that many people do not have their cats neutered and they are seeing kittens of 6-7 months of age having kittens. And in these homes where they don't spay and neuter their cats, they can go from a couple of cats to 10 in a matter of months.

We've seen horror visions of cat hoarders where they have failed to spay or neuter their cats and you can see the parents and the offspring, all with similar coats, huge families drowning the cat hoarder to the point where they are highly negligent of the cats' welfare causing ill-health and often death.

Dumping season

But this is the season of dumping cats as well. The photograph on this page comes from the RSPCA Wirral branch. An 11-year-old cat was left outside the branch offices. A classic picture of cat abandonment through carelessness and stupidity. Yes, I am angry; that's why I am calling these people stupid and ignorant.

That is the truth of it. There is no need for it. It just takes a little bit of common sense and thought. It requires a person to be a little more self-disciplined and a little less self-indulgent. Often, they fancy having a cat but they know nothing about cats or what to do in order to be a good cat caregiver. That is being self-indulgent.

For example, the RSPCA Wirral branch was called to reports of abandon cats at a Liverpool property. They found 40 cats there in very poor conditions. Just another typical story.

Importance of spay and neuter

Caroline Allen, the Chief Petty Officer at the RSPCA said:

"We have long been highlighting the importance of neutering for cat welfare. Getting your cat neutered protects them from certain diseases, and prevents unexpected and costly litters of kittens being born."

All common sense again. Why does the RSPCA have to lecture the public about this? You don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand that you have to neuter and spay domestic cats if you have a male and female living with you.

Surge

Caroline Allen confirmed what we already know namely that during kitten season they see a surge in abandon kittens sometimes found in cardboard boxes or dumped by the roadside because their owners can no longer care for them. They did not budget. They did not project into the future as to what was required. 

They just self-indulgently grabbed a cat or two because they thought they'd have a cat. Rescue charities like the RSPCA come under intense pressure during kitten season and over the summer months. And in the UK people are facing financial pressure at the moment because of the cost-of-living crisis. There is likely to be even more kitten abandonments than usual.

People should realise that abandoning their cat by the side of the road or even at the RSPCA is an act of animal cruelty.

'Chaos' this year 2023

The Wirral Animal Samaritans' co-founder Corrie Plumpton urges people to look inside carrier bags in case there is a kitten in there that's been dumped. She says that many people throw away unwanted litters. 

Just throw them away as if they are rubbish. Ms Plumpton told the Liverpool Echo that they are seeing a rise in injured, dead and pregnant cats. And they see this every year but this year, 2023, "is chaos" she said.

Corrie urges people to think about the veterinary bills when they adopt a cat. And the cost of cat food in every other cost. It is not cheap.

She added:

"People need to take more responsibility for their pets. We are seeing a lot of cats fighting, cats with abscesses, injured cats, heavily pregnant cats. There's pressure from all sides. We are having to turn away non-urgent cases; we try to keep one space free for a major need."

Yes, that's my little rant for the day. It needs around because people aren't listening. It is just a tiny minority but it is significant because it amounts to hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who simply do not take responsible attitude towards cat ownership. It's time they change their ways.

A pathetic reason for giving up a cat to a shelter or they lied

This story on social media irritated me. All I have is the headline. And it is this: "This cat was handed into my shelter for eating the family hamster". I think that is a pathetic reason for giving up on your cat and putting them in jeopardy (unless they lied). 

Putting a cat into a shelter does indeed put them in jeopardy because it depends upon another person coming along to adopt him or her. If they don't, they are in dangerous territory; they can be euthanised.

So why is the reason for relinquishment pathetic? The people who adopted the cat in the first place either had a hamster at that time or they bought a hamster while they had their cat. Either way, they knew that there would be a danger of their cat attacking the hamster. 

A pathetic reason for giving up a cat to a shelter or they lied. Image: skeletonclock on reddit.com

They created the conditions under which their cat eventually did attack and kill the family hamster.

If fault is to be apportioned it goes a hundred percent to the human care givers. The cat was simply behaving instinctively and naturally. I don't need to go on about this because it's obviously wrong for the owners to give up their cat for this reason. It is also obviously wrong for them to place a cat and hamster together.

I'm not saying it was deliberate. It can't have been but it was due to carelessness in some shape or form. Perhaps the hamster escaped their cage. Perhaps the owner was playing with the hamster and it jumped off onto the ground and their cat was not too far away and attacked it.

No matter how you interpret it the problem always goes back to humans. It is probably fair to say that every time a domestic cat is relinquished to a shelter the underlying problem is human behaviour. The only time that it can't be is if the cat is mentally ill, otherwise it is instinctive feline behaviour reacting to human-made circumstances.

There are very, very few mentally ill domestic cats requiring drug treatment of some sort. Rather sadly, the person who posted on social media completed their title with the word "Reckon she did it?" It's irrelevant except to say that the owners might have made up the story in order to give up their cat.

That wouldn't surprise me one bit. Perhaps it's a very good question. People like to make up stories when they walk into a shelter with their cat to give them up. They want to divert attention away from their mistakes and inability to care for a cat. If they did lie, they fabricated a silly excuse.

Everybody knows that when you adopt a cat you do so for the life of the cat unless some extraordinary and exceptional circumstance intervenes. That's the target. And there will be ups and downs. There will be difficult moments. There will be times when you want to give up your cat (maybe).

But just like a marriage between man and wife or man and man or woman and woman, you make sure that you go through those moments and sort them out. Often when you come out the other side the relationship has improved.

Senior citizens should consider being cat nappers at local animal shelters

 

 

Terry volunteers daily at his local shelter to take naps with cats as you can see in the video.  I can't guarantee the video will stay on this page indefinitely. Sorry.

And as you can see in the video, he thoroughly enjoys it and is very good at it. He's made friends with the cats, and they've made friends with him. He says that the experience helps with his health and blood pressure et cetera. I just see a lot of positivity in the video. There's no downside to it.

If you are a senior citizen with time on your hands and if there is an animal shelter not too far from, this, I would have thought, would be an option.

Old hand of a loving cat caregiver and the appreciative cat. Image in public domain.

Not only do you meet the cats and provide them with a little bit of human warmth and comfort, you can meet the people who work there as well.

Every senior citizen needs to get out and meet people. It's a basic necessity for humankind. Humans are social creatures.

And connecting with domestic cats at shelter allows Terry to connect with nature. The domestic cat is wild at heart. The wild cat nature is just below the surface.

When you interact with a domestic cat you indirectly interact with nature.

So there you go, it is a project which is bundled up with positivity and goodness. Of course, you got to like cats and you can't be one of the 10-20% of the population who are allergic to cats.

But, then again, if you can't be a professional, unpaid cat napper you might do the same thing with dogs.

What if you live in an apartment and the landlord doesn't allow cats and what if you think that your lifestyle is not really suitable to look after a cat. But you love cats. You might find a compromise and become a professional cat napper.

Terry snoozes with a shelter cat. Screenshot.

Terry Lauerman of De Pere 

This is a convenient moment to write a bit more about Terry. He's been around quite a bit and has become quite famous. He's in his mid-70s and has been dubbed "The Cat Grandpa".

He said: "I've always liked cats and I always had cats when I was kid, and I loved them. In many ways, I see my old cats in these cats here." 

He visits the Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary Inc. When I first saw him sleeping with a cat I thought it was just a one-off incident, but it isn't. He does it all the time.

The shelter said:

"We are so lucky to have a human like Terry. Terry just came along one day and introduced himself. He said he'd like to brush cats. Eventually it became everyday. He brushes all of the cats, and can tell you about all of their likes and dislikes. He also accidentally falls asleep most days. We don't mind - Cats need this! Terry is a wonderful volunteer. 😻❤️🐾 #nappingencouraged #grateful"

I love the way that Terry got up, got out of his home and introduced himself at the shelter. It started out by brushing cats and what a good idea that was.

At the time that Terry became well known and linked to the shelter, in four days they raised more than $40,000 and their website temporarily crashed as its server reported nearly 1,000 people visiting the website per second.

These days he is an official volunteer at the shelter. He first became acquainted with the shelter in 2016 at its previous location in De Pere.

Terry said that the shelter does not cage the animals. I guess this massively facilitates his interactions with them. The shelter relocated to Green Bay's Broadway District in 2017.

In his previous life, Lauerman was a Spanish instructor. Green Bay is a city in the US state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a US state in the east of the country and Green Bay is adjacent to Lake Michigan.

"Cat of the Month", Flint, has been at Battersea for 5 months because he's black

Flint, a black domestic shorthaired cat, has been at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home for about five months. He's been described as having a playful and bouncy character. He is extremely affectionate and loves to be on a person's lap in the evening. His character is so good that he was awarded "Cat of the Month" by the shelter. He's also been described as "one of the bravest and loveliest chaps" by shelter staff.

Flint. Photo: Battersea Dogs & Cats.

For five months, however, it appears that the colour of his coat outweighed and was more important than his beautiful character. That is the level of the negativity surrounding black fur. It's remarkable really how difficult it is for a shelter cat to overcome this obstacle which they carry by pure chance.

Phone number of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home: 0800 001 4444.

He's been with foster carers and been a superb cat there. I don't know whether this is true but one person commented to say that he had been reserved by an adopter. If it is true, I'm delighted because he is going to make a wonderful cat companion for a lucky person.

Statistics from the USA based upon a study found that of the cats left behind at animal shelters, black cats were the most common at 30% of the "left-behind" cats and with gray cats at 28% and white cat at 26%. They also state that the most common cats to be taken in at an animal shelter are black cats at 33%. Gray cats account for 22%.

Common sense dictates that the reason why people dislike black cats compared to, say, tabby cats is because they are superstitious and there are still very many people who are sufficiently superstitions to believe that black cats bring bad luck particularly with their association with witchcraft from mediaeval times. 

In addition, the black coat is plain and uninteresting to some people. It also is clear that the primary criteria for selecting cat at a cat shelter is not the character of the cat but their appearance. It's a shame because there are many cats with beautiful characters who would be deeply loved given the time but they remain at shelters where they are in jeopardy of being euthanised.

Irresponsible cat owners TAKE ADVANTAGE of rescue centres

NEWS AND COMMENT-EVANSVILLE, INDIANA, USA: This is not an untypical story of the dumping of nearly two dozen cats at the Vanderburgh Humane Society shelter in Evansville, Indiana, USA. Clearly, the "owner" decided to get rid of all their cats in one fell swoop so they drove them down to the shelter, when I guess no one was there, in cardboard boxes and left them outside the building. Actually, it was on their back porch.

Nearly 24 cats dumped at humane soc. This is taking advantage of a rescue facility,

The shelter facility has no space. The Humane Society has "been keeping our heads above water lately thanks to our awesome community. But this has put us over the edge today and it's time to sound the alarm."

They are happy that the cats are in good hands i.e. their hands, but they say that "dumping animals off to them was not the right decision."

The shelter has done their best to manage unwanted cats which are currently at a level beyond their capacity with, as they say, the help of the community and "then situations like this happen where someone totally takes advantage of us. Yes, they are safe. Yes, we are glad they brought them here instead of dumping them in the country. BUT. That does not mean that this was the right way to get rid of unwanted cats."

The right way is not to allow cats to breed in the first place. The right way is to exercise more self-discipline and more responsibility, which is not a very hard thing to do. The person who did this is very ill-disciplined and irresponsible. They lean on the good people to mop up their mess. They count on somebody else to fix the problem which they have got themselves into. That is the definition of an irresponsible person and an anti-social person.

These sorts of people need to contribute to society rather than lean on it to support their irresponsible ways. The Vanderburgh Humane Society is asking for help. They want people to come forward to foster an animal or donate and finally to volunteer.

There are takers and givers in society in all countries. The person who dumped their cats is a taker.

I guess they have dealt with the overflow of animals at their facility through local people providing fostering services.

I think that the irresponsible people who do this should be punished to teach them a lesson. The hard part in that achieving that objective is finding them as they dump their cats surreptitiously. They avoid shelter staff.

Covid may close a Rhode Island no-kill shelter founded in 1968

Pet Refuge is a North Kingsdown, Rhode Island, no-kill cat shelter which is in financial trouble due to their inability to carry out fundraising and raise donations to support the charity during 2 years of lockdown and social distancing. They do not receive any taxpayers among; everything they do is about fundraising and donations. The secretary for the North Kingsdown-Exeter Animal Protection League which runs the shelter said: "Everything we do is fundraising and donations. We weren't able to do any fundraising. We lost a lot of money."

Pet Refuge is a North Kingsdown, Rhode Island. Picture: the refuge on Facebook

Pet Refuge is one of the largest shelters for cat in Rhode Island and they accept cats from all over the state. They do not euthanise animals because they have a lack of space or because they suffer from certain medical conditions. They only euthanise if a cat has a fatal disease or is in severe pain.

As a consequence, the facility has around 30 resident cats. These are called "lifers". They have not been adopted because of their medical conditions, age or because of temperament. Some cats live their entire lives at the shelter.

RELATED: 45% reduction in cat euthanasia in Humane Canada shelters over 27 years.

It costs around US$180,000 annually to run the shelter. Spaying and neutering costs alone are between $15,000-$20,000 annually. To these numbers you have to add pay for one full-time and four part-time workers as well as heating, lighting, electricity and repairs for the building. They need a new roof and a new air conditioning system within a couple of years.

The shelter is running a Go Fund appeal with a goal of $50,000. A background problem is that cat owners who have lost their home one way and another and are forced to rent may have to give up their cats and dogs because the landlord does not allow tenants with companion animals.

They have no plan B to cope with the possibility that if they really do have to close their doors what happens to the cats? They have not really got I plan B. They are a true refuge and they want to accept every cat who can stay with them until they are placed with a forever home.

Animal rights quotes and some thoughts

I think we should make up our own animal rights quotes. Here is one I just made up: "Animal cruelty leads to human cruelty. Hurting animals hurts humankind in the long run" - Michael Broad (webmaster PoC).

Animal advocate. Image: Pixabay.

OK, it's not that good but it makes the point. Here are some "professional" animal rights quotes:

The first one is a very well-known quote. It has been quoted hundreds of thousands of times and rightly so. To emphasise what I have stated below, I don't think that the human race can be described as civilised until we all respect animals. We have a long way to go. That is abundantly clear. 

Animal rights. Image: Pixabay.

The invasion of Ukraine by Putin's forces has resulted in horrifically uncivilised human behaviour towards both people and animals by the Russians. In contrast, the Ukrainian defenders appear to be very gentle and respectful of stray dogs and cats.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi

It is so right because the treatment of living creatures who are vulnerable or at the mercy of people in authority and/or power indicates the quality of the society and the calibre of the people who in power. For animals all people are in power all people have dominion over them. The bible as I recall endorses that view which is wrong. The bible is wrong in many respects. Please read The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine.

So, it is an animal quote that actually applies to all living creatures including people who are vulnerable. These are usually the poorer people, people more likely to be abused and used by the stronger, alpha male types.

Bodega cat insists on equal rights with humans and why not? 
Photo: Facebook @thebodegacats.

A society that cares properly for the most vulnerable - and companion animals are vulnerable in a human dominated world - is one that has become truly civilised. The world is not civilised, not even western nations are civilised. Over 2 million feral cats are needlessly and deliberately killed in the USA every year. They don't pass the Gandhi test I am afraid.

RELATED: Dr Jordan B Peterson on Twitter: “Animals don’t have rights”.

I was reminded, incidentally, that Gandhi was no saint himself. He was human but he knew how to make a good quote! And he knew animal and human rights.

"Life is life's greatest gift. Guard the life of another creature as you would your own because it is your own. On life's scale of values, the smallest is no less precious to the creature who owns it than the largest..." - Lloyd Biggle Jr.

I have not heard this animal rights quote before. Actually, it is not necessarily an animal rights quote, more commonsense.

The thing is this: if we kill and abuse animals, we are hurting nature and nature is the world. We are killing a part of us indirectly. We are hurting ourselves slowly and indirectly. If we do something bad to an animal, we are damaging ourselves psychologically I believe. If we do the opposite and do good, we build our self-esteem. We create a better world inside our heads and outside in our small way.

"True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it." - Milan Kundera, (Czech Novelist)

"Most people have forgotten how to live with living creatures, with living systems and that, in turn, is the reason why man, whenever he comes into contact with nature, threatens to kill the natural system in which and from which he lives." - Konrad Lorenz, (Naturalist)

In general, the world has forgotten how to live with nature. We have forgotten that we don't own the planet but are guardians of it. We live on it and yet we destroy it. Abusing animal rights is a small manifestation of our inability to think sustainably and how to live harmoniously with nature. By nature, I mean all living creatures and the landscape on which we live.

Sometimes I believe that we hate ourselves so much that we are destroying the planet as a way of destroying ourselves.

One area where animal rights are routinely abused wholly legally is in the area of animal testing. This is a controversial area. But if we have any sensitivity to animal rights, animal testing is repugnant. It is distasteful and obviously wrong. Why are we more important than animals? In terms of world health, we are less important than all other animals because we are the greatest threat to the world. As I said we are destroying it. Animals don't destroy the world. They live in harmony with nature and the planet.

"Atrocities are no less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called 'medical research." - George Bernard Shaw, (Irish Playright and Critic)

It would seem that some progress has been made in the area of animal rights....

Eleanor Roosevelt with family dog

"It seems to me of great importance to teach children respect for life. Towards this end, experiments on living animals in classrooms should be stopped. To encourage cruelty in the name of science can only destroy the finer emotions of affection and sympathy, and breed an unfeeling callousness in the young towards suffering in all living creatures." - Eleanor Roosevelt, (former First Lady of the United States of America)

Eleanor Roosevelt lived October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962. Am I correct is presuming that in the United States, conducting live animal experiments has been banned in the classroom? God, I hope so. It is disgusting.

It is particularly important that children learn to respect other living creatures, to respect nature and other people. Martha Kane working in Malta as a cat rescuer gives talks to school children for this particular purpose.

I hope you enjoyed these animal rights quotes. Please add your own animal rights quote by leaving a comment.

Postscript: I might be an extreme animal advocate but I believe that the human-animal is not superior to any animal. I believe that we are all equal whether we are humans or animals. Obviously, we are not because in the human world very few people think that but I also believe that it would be a better world if people thought like me. There would be much less animal cruelty. Little animal exploitation. A much lower human population and so on. Human population growth is almost a disease on the planet. It is destroying the planet. And if you destroy animals, you also destroy humans and the planet. We need to live in harmony. There needs to be far more respect for animals both wild and domestic. We have a legacy of Christianity in large parts of the world which more or less states that humans have dominion over animals. Not a good concept.

Shelter says: "The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell" -video

This is a TikTok video of an eight-year-old shelter cat named Bell. She is female which is unusual for a ginger tabby and she is the only cat at the shelter as you can see when the video camera roams down the aisle of shelter cages with not a cat in sight. By implication, Bell is the only cat left because she is middle-aged in cat years. She looks very cautious when the person making the video enters her cage. This is understandable.

Bell emerges from hiding in her shelter enclosure. Screenshot.

On the outside of her enclosure there is a sign saying "free roaming". I am not sure what that means in this instance. I don't think Bell was free-roaming but she might have been. Perhaps it means that she is able to roam freely in a larger than usual enclosure or area at the cat shelter.

@gcace_rescue The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell💔 #adoptaseniorcat #foster #rescue #animalshelter #fyp #catsoftiktok ♬ original sound - m.a.r.y s.h.a.n.t.i

Once again, it looks like a very nicely set up cat shelter with great facilities. It is a sad video and it provides an insight into how shelter cats feel.

I wonder if they could have provided a better hiding place for Bell? She hides under what appears to be a plastic stool. A customised hiding place might be better. She needs to hide because she is timid or understandably anxious. That is very clear judging by the video. She is out of her normal environment and in a very strange and rather sterile place.

This shelter cat she needs a nice home where she is loved. It is, of course, sad that she has been rejected by potential adopters. Elderly cats are not infrequently left on the shelf so to speak. This is not only unfair but inadvisable.

RELATED: Video: POV-what a senior cat at a shelter sees and hears as adopters walk by.

Elderly cats make really good companion animals. They know the ropes. They settle into a new home more easily and more quickly. They are more accepting because they have more life experience. They don't chase around the place like kittens do causing a certain amount of mayhem. All-in-all they are an excellent cat to adopt. 

RELATED: Florida veterinarian said senior cat was ‘suffering’ and euthanizes her on the day of intake at SPCA.

The only downside is that they are likely to die before the adopter. In which case you have to be prepared emotionally for that very difficult time in a caregiver's duty when you have to decide if and when you need to euthanise your cat. 

It is the toughest time for a concerned cat caregiver. The moment might be protracted because of chronic illness. Not easy to deal with. But the benefits, in my view, of adopting a senior cat far outweigh the negatives.

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Animal control officer saves 45 cats from shelter fire

NEWS AND COMMENT-LAREDO ANIMAL CARE SERVICES, TX: The reporting is a little sketchy but the story is good. An animal control officer, Jose Aranda (also reported as Jesus Aranda) has been recognised by the Laredo City Council for his quick thinking and bravery in saving the lives of 45 shelter cats from a fire at the Laredo Animal Care Services cat shelter.

Jose Aranda recognised for his bravery in saving the lives of 45 cats at the Laredo cat shelter fire. Photo: Danny Zaragoza /Laredo Morning Times.

The rescue occurred in the early part of January 2022. It was quite late at 10 PM according to the reports. Aranda was at the shelter to process some animals when he noticed smoke coming from the roof of the building in the cat shelter section.

Rather than call the fire department and wait, he took action himself. He opened the door to the shelter. There was excessive heat and smoke. He saw the cats and realised that unless he released them immediately, they would probably die.

"I proceeded to open the door and saw a bunch of cats in there, so I started releasing the cat before they got burned".

He was taken to hospital afterwards for smoke inhalation and the consequences of being exposed to excessive heat.

We don't know what happened to the cats except that they were saved and, apparently, they've not been lost. The point is that he released them but we don't know where they went to. My guess is that they went to other parts of the shelter that was safe and where there was no fire. The fire only affected the cat shelter part.

His son, Jesus Aranda Jr., was happy that his dad had saved the cats. He loves cats and they have two at home.

Aranda said that he loves his job and that if he was another person, meaning not an animal control officer he probably wouldn't have gone on to save the animals. He said that he could have waited until the fire department came. If he did that it is likely the cats would have been killed, he said.

Comment: I think that this is the largest number of cats saved from a fire. It is certainly the largest number reported in the news media over many years. I read the cat news every day as supplied by Bing News. Well done to him. It is sad to report that often in house fires the homeowner gets out but the cats die in the fire. This is a natural consequence of two things (1) cats hiding and therefore being difficult to find and (2) people prioritising, understandably, their safety before anything else.

Owner-surrendered cats find animal shelters harder to deal with than stray cats

This might be common knowledge among animal shelter workers but I think it's still worth repeating. A study published in 2007: Behavioral differences between owner surrender and stray domestic cats after entering an animal shelter, found that when a cat owner surrendered their domestic cat companion to a shelter the cat found the whole shelter experience more stressful than stray cats brought to the shelter.

Shelter tabby cat keen to be adopted. Photo: Pixabay.

I can't read the detailed conclusion or the reasons behind this finding because I have to pay for access to the entire study but I think I can reasonably guess the reason why. 

Domestic cats are used to a friendly environment. Stray cats are used to a hostile environment. When a stray cat goes into a shelter there is perhaps not a lot of difference in the sense of hostility that the environment brings to them. But for a domestic cat it's a shock. They go from what should be a calm, pleasant environment to one which is noisy and where there are a lot of people coming and going and cats and dogs in cages making noises.

It is a foregone conclusion that an owner-surrendered cat is likely to feel stressed. The amount of stress they feel will depend upon their personality and their previous lifestyle.

In this study they examined 86 domestic cats (some of whom were stray cats). They measured their behaviour for the first three days after entering an animal shelter. They labelled the owner-surrendered cats as "OS" and the stray cats as "S".

The conclusion was:

"Results indicate that OS cats showed the greatest behavioral measures of stress and arousal compared to S cats."

They also found that the "mean behavioural stress rating" of cats that had been euthanised due to illness or disease was significantly higher in the OS group compared to the S group.

Further, when they examined archival data from 260 shelter cats that had developed an upper respiratory infection, the OS cats became ill much sooner than the S cats. They concluded that this was because they suffered from more stress than the S cats.

OS cats suffer from more stress than S cats when entering a shelter environment which impacts their behaviour, their health and general well-being. It can also lead to euthanasia as opposed to being adopted.

It's is a known fact that shelters can be very stressful places for cats. It makes them prone to behavioural problems and health issues. These include weight loss, self-trauma, over-grooming, aggression, withdrawal, bladder problems and upper respiratory infections.

A strong suggestion is that the best way to reduce stress in residents who are at a shelter in the long term is to remove them to a foster home which gets them out of the shelter environment. They should stay there until they are adopted. This should not just be a de-stressing tool. And foster carers should be trained and allowed to adopt out cats in their care.

The shelter can make arrangements to advertise the cats online and at their facility in the usual way and then refer potential adopters to the foster carer's home to meet the cat and discuss adoption.

An alternative is to divide shelter cats into two groups: one group is better able to deal with the shelter environment and are fast tracked for adoption while the second group may become more stressed and are therefore subject to more attention to alleviate stress and make their stay more acceptable to them. This should happen as soon as they enter the shelter.

Young woman adopted an older kitty who had been returned to the shelter a few times

The picture is very good if not excellent and the behavior of this young woman was also excellent. She's being rewarded by the love of her elderly cat. You get back what your invest plus more when you adopt unwanted shelter cats. We know that older cats tend to 'stay on the shelf' at shelters. They are just less popular but there are many advantages. They are more domesticated. They know how to live with humans and they are more placid and pliable. They fit in better. And I think they appreciate their new home more as they have managed to escape the shelter sometimes after a long stay.

Here is the picture. A nice one. It must be a selfie so the photographer is the lady you see in the pic.

Young woman adopted an older kitty who had been returned to the shelter a few times. I took the liberty of improving the image quality slightly but the original was still very good.

I recommend adopting the shelter cats that are unwanted. Invest in the cat. Look beyond the appearance. Invest in the relationship and focus on it plus the personality of the cat. The rewards will flow.

I don't know anymore about this brown tabby cat or the woman as she posted the photo and the title but no other information. But the most important thing is known: she did something great and took a nice picture to boot.

Blind rescue cat has two feline helpers (for now)

NEWS AND COMMENT: This story comes from Sioux City, USA and it's a cute one. The Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue report that they rescued a tuxedo cat who was born without eyes. They named him Keller. The cat was not neutered, either. Once in their rescue centre he was lost and bewildered. That, of course, was to be expected. So, within a day they rescued a female cat which they decided is his mother and helper.

Blind cat Keller on the left and his two feline helpers a young tabby female Trixie and his sick mom. Photo: Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue

Immediately on her arrival at the shelter they became inseparable. They stay close to each other and the female cat was clearly Keller's helper in navigating. The problem is that when veterinarians checked out Keller's mum, they discovered that she was quite ill. She had to have all her teeth removed and she had a large tumour in her sinus cavity. They removed the tumour and she appears to have recovered but they don't know whether the cancer will come back and her prognosis is not good.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

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Keller, therefore, might soon be without his helper. And so, the rescue staff decided to introduce a new cat into Keller's life to take over the helping duties. They picked a nine-week-old shelter cat who has a bold and confident personality. Her name is Trixie. She quickly became a member of Keller's family, learning how to help Keller.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: Gorgeous Little Grey Blind Cat at Animal Shelter Adopts His Human Companions

And so, the shelter has a threesome to be adopted, all at the same time! A blind cat who is helped by his mother and the young tabby female who will take over those duties when her mother goes over the rainbow bridge.

Cindy Rarrat, the director of Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue, said:

"We've been looking for that special home, that special someone that would give these guys a chance."

If you're interested you can apply by filling in a form on their website which you can get to by clicking on this link. The shelter looks great in the photos.