We have a new pet

My lady was driving down the road about a week and a half ago and sees a cat sitting in the middle of the road.  Being her, she stopped and went over to see if it was okay.  The cat didn't even move as she walked towards it.  She could see that it's ear was kind of torn up, it was missing clumps of fur, and one ear was very disfigured from some long ago injury.  My lady, still being her, picked the cat up, with no protest from the cat at all, loaded in the car, and drove to the nearest house to see if it belonged to them.  We live in a very rural area and houses are not close together.  Well, the people didn't know whose cat it was, so home to our house it came.  We looked the cat over and it was a little scuffed and beat up, but nothing that seemed painful or life-threatening, so we gave it some food, made up a bed in the garage so our other twelve cats couldn't harass the little guy, and put him to bed.

Next day, my lady calls the nearest shelter and tells them the story.  They put the cat's picture on their Facebook page, and lo and behold, someone calls and says it's her cat.  The shelter gave her my lady's phone number, and the story goes like this:  She didn't have a place to live that she could keep the cat, and wouldn't until January, so she found some people that said they would watch it for her until then.  When she saw her cat on Facebook, she called the people that were supposed to be watching the cat, and they said they were sick of watching it and threw it out the car window and abandoned it.  My lady asked if she had anyone that could keep it for her until she had a place, and her answer was no, the people that had it were the only ones she could find.  My lady told her she was taking the cat to the vet to be checked out, get it wormed and meds for it's ear or whatever it needed.  If she wanted to pay the vet bill, we would keep the cat for her until January.  Predictably, she didn't want to do that, so we have another cat.  She wouldn't say who the people were that threw the cat out on the road to die, so that saved me a charge for battery.  The vet said the cat is going to be just fine, and he is a super friendly little guy, especially considering how he has been treated.  He is fitting in just fine.

TL/DR
People suck and we have another cat.

I am speechless in many ways!

Trace Oswald wrote: She wouldn't say who the people were that threw the cat out on the road to die, so that saved me a charge for battery.

That's a silver lining to a nasty, black cloud.

The vet said the cat is going to be just fine, and he is a super friendly little guy, especially considering how he has been treated.  He is fitting in just fine.

I'd say that cat just won the lottery of life. Congratulations!

I live in an area where lots of people dump cats and dogs (not to mention worse options like racoon) because there looks like there's lots of undeveloped land. But pets aren't necessarily skilled at finding what they need, or avoiding roads, or knowing that a deer will ignore them, but a cougar will eat them.  We've got a lot of people who are feeling trapped by the system leading them to make bad decisions. All we can do is educate those who might listen.

We have 6 cats.  All are foundlings.

My cat was found the same way, as a kitten on the highway. Gooey eyes, ticks, maggots and eggs. About 1 mo/o. we weren't going to keep her, as we had elderly cats and didn't want them to catch anything she had, like FeLu. Except, all the shelters were full...over three counties!!! It's really bad here. so, I ended up keeping her in my RV until her vet appt, cleaned her up and cared for her in the meantime-the vet was not able to get her in for three months! And now she lives in the house with her best friends and just celebrated her first purrday! <3
speaking of crazy people...I was describing to someone I knew about her problems, and the girl said "I see why she was dumped!" ?? how sick can you get?

speaking also of the shelters being full...someone acquired their pet dog because they found her wandering the highway with a pink ribbon around her neck saying "please take me home". If that just doesn't break your heart...

EVERY day I ask, to the silent air around around me, what is wrong with people? !!!  

1… our homestead now hosts 56 throwaway cats, most found as starving castoffs that took us days or weeks to coax into a trap because they were too afraid while they tried to be invisible along the side of the road, hiding from the world and their deep fears. By the way, they are now all stable, neutered, fat, and secure. Our farm has the empathy to take these poor critters. The farm also hosts foster dogs, some of which become permanent residents.

2… every week, and I truly mean every week, I get calls about dogs or puppies that are running scared in the lava fields. Why in the world do people dump their dogs in the lava fields where there is no hope of water, food, or shelter? It is sickening. Some of these frightened creatures we can rescue. Others run deeper into the lava where they will eventually die a horrible death from thirst.

3. … why don’t people spay/neuter their dogs? Come on people, you are the cause of animal over population. I am aware that you don’t believe this, but let’s face facts, if your dog or cat is not neutered, you are 100% the problem. Even if your animal luckily doesn’t reproduce, you are setting the example for others who are less responsible, telling them that it’s ok to risk producing more unwanted puppies and kittens. (This is one situation where I will use "you" instead of ‘we" or "I". Contrary to Paul’s ban on the use of "you should", in this situation of irresponsible animal propagation, "you should’ is the way to go to try to get people to acknowledge the harm that they are doing.)

4… why do people think that it’s ok to produce litters in today’s overpopulated scenario? Oh they say, "I find homes for all the kittens and puppies, so it’s ok". No it’s not, unless you had everyone of those babies neutered before they went to their new homes. I highly applaud those who do that…..I boo/hiss those who don’t. Yeah, I can be a mean witch about that.

As part of my community volunteer efforts, I volunteer at our local spay/neuter clinics. Plus I help round up strays. So I’m a first line worker in the over population mess. Last weekend we neutered 52 dogs! The clinic before we did close to 60 puppies. And the last cat clinic we did 90. All for FREE, FREE. This year the organization has done over 2000 spay/neuters. And you know something…. the puppies and kittens still keep coming because there are people out there that won’t get their pets neutered. What’s wrong with people?

The shelters and rescues on Big Island, Hawaii are all over full, way beyond capacity. Yet the litters keep coming and there us no where for the babies to go. They end up being used for dog fighting bait, dumped in remote pastures where they end up being shot by ranchers, dumped in the lava fields, dumped at night everywhere else. Yes, I keep asking, what’s wrong with people.

I applaud every person who adopts one of these throwaway critters. It wasn’t their fault that they got born. And like you and I, they deserve a chance at a decent life.

Pant, sigh, deep breathe —— I step down off my soapbox. The insanity I deal with gets to be very frustrating. It seems to just get worse and worse. What’s wrong with people?

Su Ba wrote:Pant, sigh, deep breathe —— I step down off my soapbox. The insanity I deal with gets to be very frustrating. It seems to just get worse and worse. What’s wrong with people?

I'll excuse your shoulding and soap-boxing, because there are laws against animal cruelty for good reasons! Allowing a situation where offspring of an animal will die a horrible death is *not* OK, and people like you see the horror of it. Hang in there and remember that you are genuinely part of the solution.

Trace,

Many years ago we had a Maine Coon.  My wife and I hired a cat sitter while we went on vacation. After 3 days we became very uncomfortable and decided to cut the vacation short.  Yep, the cat sitter never showed. She claimed that she was afraid of the cat. In a wonderful exercise in Karma, maybe 4 years later the individual actually used me as a job reference.

People suck and we have another cat.

Best quote of the year!