A person living near the Penns Woods Inn Manheim, USA, thinks that guests of the hotel abandon their cats at the hotel. He has a seen an increase in stray cats. These are domestic and sometimes declawed cats.
“People come there and bring pets, including cats. But when the people leave, they don’t take their cats with them…” (Ken Kaylor)
This story caught my eye. What is going on? Is this is a new phenomenon? Are people checking into the hotel, which allows pets, specifically to dump their cats? What is going through the minds of people who leave their cats behind at the hotel?
Message to Americans: I am simply reporting what I read in the online American press1 and discussing it. It is interesting to any person, anywhere, who likes and cares about cats. I am being as polite and as objective as possible.
The pictures of the hotel show me that it is made up of semi-detached or terraced bungalows (single story cabins) spread across quite extensive grounds. On the face of it, it is a good place to let your cat go walkabout. Perhaps guests let their cats out to explore the grounds and they get lost or don’t come back. Then the cat’s owner gives up and drives off. Great!
Perhaps it is careless rather than callous behavior by cat owners who are travelling through Manheim and staying at this hotel, which incidentally receives a very poor customer rating. Customer reviews say the place is filthy dirty and needs decorating. The showers don’t have hot water. It appears to be badly managed. It may have a reputation as a place to dump your cat for all I know.
Ken Kaylor’s statement indicates that people deliberately leave their cats behind at the hotel. If that is the case you’d have to believe that some people come to the hotel with the idea in mind of abandoning their cat at the hotel. I would very much doubt that it would be a spur of the moment decision.
If that is true, it is both bizarre and horrible and demonstrates a complete lack of probity and morality. It really is treating the domestic cat as a consumer “product” that can be discarded at will. Clearly they are not fit to keep cats or any companion animal.
Source:
- My Manheim Central News (note: I don’t provide hard links because they often break and I have to repair them. I don’t have the time to do that.
In addition to the possibility that people check into pet friendly motels and leave the cats behind, is that people dump cats near motels, period. Or, that stray cats find motels good places to hang around.
My sis and her husband ended up with a “motel cat”. I don’t know if the motel was cat friendly (accepting cats) or not. Sis and husband did not bring their cats. However, a cat hanging around the motel followed my sis around (she gives off that “I love cats vibe”). Don’t remember all the details about the cat, except my sister would have made sure this was not a local household cat- clearly seemed to be a stray- homeless. So, another cat was added to their multi-cat household!
Thanks Jane. This is similar. Not as bizarre but equally callous. The human race drives me mad.
Completely agree with you Marc. It is weird. I hope it does not happen but it looks like it does. I am lost for words because it appears people have lost their way completely.
Ruth, what is going on? I find it extraordinary that people can do this (if they are doing it, which seems to be the case). It is weird to me. It wouldn’t enter my head. For me it is a parallel universe. A world I don’t understand.
I agree, Ruth, it is just crazy. Is this what things have come to? Why people just look after their cats in the time-honoured way? Normally. What is the big deal? There is something terrible wrong at the heart of society in America as far as I am concerned.
Good point – why, I wonder, does it have to be either love or hate. It appears that way but there must be some middle ground. When I was very young I was impartial – I didn’t yet love animals, I just loved what they represented – nature – I always loved and respected nature. Can’t all those people who go hiking and for walks in the nature appreciate that animals are a part of it and try to work harder towards helping and respecting them….