Someone accused us of “stealing” people’s pets, LOL

So, the nuts keep coming out of the woodwork, and today one of Flippy’s family accused us of stealing other people’s pets because we take in strays from our front porch.  Let’s discuss the cats we’ve taken in from outside, shall we?

The first cat was Frank, approximately 2+ years old, unneutered, covered in scars and bloody wounds after possibly being hit by a car.  He was as thin as can be, his coat was in such poor condition that it was falling out, and he had no microchip or collar.  If he was someone’s pet, he was either so poorly cared for that he was practically abused, or he’d been lost for so long that no one would still be looking for him (good luck finding your lost “black cat”).  Letting an unneutered male cat wander a neighbourhood near a major freeway?  I think that’s a big problem.  I called our city shelter and they said any cat I brought in that needed medical care would be immediately euthanized, so of course I didn’t take him there.  Frank needed to be neutered, needed two toes amputated, and it took him quite a while to adjust to living with people.  Someone’s beloved pet that we stole?  Anyone taking bets on that?

The second cat was one we named Stewie.  He was thin and dirty, but adorable, and seemed healthy.  He had no collar or microchip.  Trying to be good citizens, we took him to our local shelter, and said that if no one claimed him, we would adopt him.  He was dead within a couple of weeks.  No one at the shelter will tell us what happened, but needless to say, no one claimed him.  He would still be alive if we hadn’t trusted our local shelter system with him (the same system that was shut down by the Humane Society about a year later for gross negligence).

The third cat we took in from our front porch was Rory, a six week old kitten who had obviously been left there deliberately.  I’m quite sure she was put there by a family down the street, whose kids knew we had cats.  Leaving a terrified six week old kitten on a stranger’s porch?  Yep, that’s a sign of a great pet owner.

The fourth cat we took in from outside was Dobby, also approximately 6 weeks old and pretty much feral.  After two years living inside with us, Dobby is still semi-feral—we can touch her back occasionally, she shows up for meals, and we can NEVER pick her up.  When she recently seemed to have a bladder infection, the vet sent home antibiotics because we can’t catch her to take her in for a checkup.  Someone’s beloved pet?  Ha!  She had no experience with people prior to us trapping her (it took a couple of weeks), and I’ve often wondered what happened to her siblings.

The fifth and final cat we took in was Kevin/Cody, who I fed outside from September of last year until about April, when I gained his trust and and was finally able to touch him and bring him inside.  Before I could approach him, he’d spend the days sleeping in our neighbour’s backyard in the shell of an old Mustang, and then he’d come eat once I’d put the food down and returned inside.  He’s a great cat, but again, no microchip, no collar, and most importantly, he has an eartip.  The morons who accused us of stealing people’s pets (as an aside, I’m actually starting to realize that it’s true: 50% of the population does have an IQ of under 100) I’m sure have no idea what an eartip is, but I know the animal lovers reading this do.  There’s a bird and farm sanctuary located less than a mile from our house (I hear the peacocks every morning around 5am), and the place has literally dozens of abandoned cats.  I’m sure Kevin came from a managed colony, and found our feeding station during his wanderings.

In summary, of the five cats we’ve actually taken off the streets, one is dead, and two have been adopted.  That leaves us with two “stolen” cats—a wild female torti (‘nuff said about temperament of that one), and Frank, an older male with a tendency to bite me and draw blood.  The line to adopt these two starts over there, and I’m sure it will be winding around the block!

I’m not an idiot (unlike some people).  Before we ever took any cat off the streets, I consulted with two major Nevada animal welfare organizations about the legalities of trapping/rehoming.  Both told me that a cat without a collar and without a microchip is fair game to take off the streets, and both recommended that I not take these cats to the city shelter because of the high kill rate.  Both organizations commended me for my willingness to get involved, too.  Some of us contribute to society by trying to make it a better, safer, happier place for both animals and people, and other people contribute by buying themselves new baseball bats.  To each his own, but I sleep with a clear conscience.  We own a universal microchip scanner (donated!), so checking for a chip is as easy as waving the scanner over the cat while it eats. 

I also want to write about the cats we haven’t taken off the streets, but have fed.  There’s a cat from up the street who comes by occasionally, and who seems to lack ID but I know where he lives and leave him alone.  There was a cat named Chloe who had a collar and ID, so I called her owner, and the woman was surprised her cat had travelled so far.  The cat wasn’t allowed indoors anymore because it had “scratched the baby”, so I talked to the woman and told her about Soft Paws, and even said that declawing was a far better option than letting her black cat wander near the freeway.  I never saw Chloe again, and I hope her tale had a happy ending.  There was one other cat, a really pretty longhaired tortie who lacked ID and a chip, but who I’d never seen before and who seemed to be in extremely good health with a shiny coat.  I took one of those plastic collars you see on cats in shelters (the disposable, adhesive kind you can write on with a Sharpie), and I put a collar on the cat with a note: “If this is your cat, please put ID on it or microchip it.  If Animal Control finds this cat, please call (our phone number)”.  I never saw that cat again either.

Most of the cats we have at Wee Paws have come to us from our vet’s office, either as orphaned kittens, or as adults scheduled to be euthanized because their owners died and the rest of the family didn’t want to take responsibility for them.  There’s also Missy Mae, who was a stray who’d been abandoned at an apartment complex in another part of town, and whose caretaker died of pancreatic cancer.  There are actually people slamming me because I helped a woman with pancreatic cancer die with peace of mind—I know the woman was grateful, because she cried with happiness when she thanked me via telephone.  She told me that as long as her cat was safe, she could die without worry.  What a terrible person I am to help someone near death resolve their biggest worry… I could have spent that time and money getting my nails done!

To put this all in perspective, these accusations come from people who think dogs should live outside (even when it’s 110 degrees, which is actually illegal), who are disgusted by the thought of animals sleeping in bed with people, and who euthanize their pets to avoid expenses.  The person who equated our rescue work with theft has an unspayed female dog who’s about 7 years old now, and that dog’s pretty much doomed to get mammary cancer or pyometra.  As soon as it gets sick, that dog will be put to sleep faster than you can snap your fingers.  The worst part is that we gave the owner of that dog a certificate to get the dog spayed for $25, but he was “too busy” to get around to doing that.  He hasn’t done it even though it’s illegal to have an unspayed dog in Las Vegas without a breeder’s license… oh, how I’d love for him to get fined, but that would require his dog getting picked up by Animal Control, and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to pay the $150 ticket.  As the guy said today on the phone, “it’s only an animal”.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 05/17 at 06:48 AM

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  1. Leigh-Ann, don’t let that moron get to you. He’s the animal! It’s a shame he even has pets. What, are they 4-legged furniture? No yard is complete without a barking dog? Don’t give this guy the time of day. If you must endure him, don’t get pulled in to the argument. He’s Not worth your energy.
    Nina sends loud purrs.
    Jen

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat's mom  on  05/19  at  07:42 AM

  2. “it’s only an animal” <—That is probably the saddest thing I’ve ever read.  The rest of it was pretty funny though.  I have made up a word for your condition: klepetomania - the compulsion to steal stray animals.

    Posted by Helly  on  05/19  at  08:45 AM

  3. Helly, that’s a fine word you invented :)  I don’t know how I haven’t been accused yet of hoarding… all I can think is that my detractors don’t know the term.  I’m sure it will be tossed my way as soon as the topic comes up on Dr. Phil.

    Jen, thank you for your kind words.  I’m not being silent about this abuse because I want people to know what kind of morons exist.  Isn’t it ridiculous that I actually have to fight to do charitable work?

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/20  at  02:20 AM

  4. Hi there!  I am a fan of your blog and live in the rural moutain area of colorado (i’m about and hour and half from utah state line).  I also do my own bit of rescuing, but most of mine i have wound up keeping.  It is amazing to me the amount of ignorrance that is out there to this very day about animals.  I applaud your efforts and am sooo thankful for every other person out there who does what they can too!  Thank you!  (I also have a blog!

    Posted by GoddessLu  on  05/20  at  09:54 PM

  5. I’d ask why you are still talking to these assholes, but then I remember what my mother has done, and I still talk to her.

    Pet care is just something I don’t discuss with my mother. I do with my father - he actually cares. My father would bring home the stray animal - my mom would take it to the shelter when Da had to travel for work. Fortunately, they haven’t had any pets for more than a decade now, and aren’t ever likely to have any again.

    Mom has been very happy to offer lawn space for deceased pets however. Carved headstones and everything.

    Posted by Georg  on  05/21  at  08:30 AM

  6. Georg, I sent you a private response to this, but publicly I’ll say that I’m only responding after the first volley has been lobbed from the other side.  In other words, we get abusive phone call on answering machine, and I respond to it via an informative blog entry.  Today I got another abusive email and I’ll probably respond to it via a blog entry (although right now I’ve been up all night working and need to sleep, so I’ll save it for later).  These emails keep telling me to “just walk away”, and you know, it’s tough to walk away when freaks are chasing you.  It’s also tough to walk away when the parties who claim to be so concerned can’t stay away from my blog!  They’re the most rabid readers I’ve got!  Sure, I could block them, but they could also show a bit of self-control.  I’ve got NOTHING to lose… I shall continue to blog to my heart’s content.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/21  at  10:09 AM

  7. No, no, they’re not “just animals”, they were “just fucking animals”.  Yes, we’re the world’s worst people because we’ve rescued cats, dog, and parrots.  Well, I’m proud of the work we’ve (well, mostly you…you’ve done all the hard stuff, like the bottle feeding at all hours and the butt shaving) done, the peace of mind we’ve given to people who needed help fostering or finding new homes for pets they loved.  While I like watching baseball games, I don’t think parking my butt in the bleachers is the be-all and end-all of life, and it certainly isn’t making the world a better place.

    Oh, and we were also semi-accused of “maybe” having someone else’s taxes take care of our rescues.  For one, it’s not true; and for another, how would someone who doesn’t even vote feel as though their opinion about their taxes should matter?  If you’re so concerned about what you might be paying for, then you can vote on these issues, just like the rest of us.  Oh, and I’ll bet that my taxes have paid for more of other people’s kids’ public schooling than their taxes have paid for rescuing “just fucking” animals.  So, if anyone gets to complain about their taxes going towards something that they personally don’t need, it’s ME.

    Posted by Flippy  on  05/22  at  05:44 AM

  8. We think it is fair to say that all animal lovers would prefer to be insulted by idiots than to have them consider us a friend. We are dachsies and Mom loves us and prefers friends who love us. She knows that she has something important in common with other animal lovers.

    Keep up the good work. We aren’t cat lovers ourselves but we do like to chase them and bark at them. We would hate for all of the cats to disappear.

    Posted by The Dachsies: Roxie, Sammy & Andy  on  05/25  at  10:01 AM

  9. Thanks as always for your kind words, little Dachsies… it’s so nice to have you around for a visit.  I don’t actually like blogging about family drama (really, it’s embarrassing on so many levels), but these allegations just rip my heart out.  There’s been so much more said, including threats to shut down Wee Paws, and it’s made me realize that I have nothing in common with these people at all.  Anyone who would threaten to have animals killed as a form of one-upmanship isn’t anyone I want to know.  Although it’s been an exhausting experience, at least it’s cleared the air, and Flippy and I know where we stand regarding the family and our pets.  They’re forcing us to choose, and we’re choosing the pets.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/25  at  12:54 PM
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