This is one of those articles where I will likely ramble a bit, as it can’t be helped. The fault that causes cat fosterers to suffer as rescues crumble and go under can be traced back to the shelter systems in the United States. And the problems with the shelter systems stem in large part from cat owners not having their cats spayed and neutered.
The basis for this article comes from a friend of mine in Georgia, who was left with the care of almost two dozen foster cats when the rescue she was helping crumbled several years ago. My friend has a rather large home, so she had room for the cats. Everything was going well until the rescue went under. I’m not going to name names, as I don’t want to initiate a lawsuit, but readers are free to comment, should you know who I’m talking about.
Her Facebook post, one of her last, was in September 2014:
“Okay, time is up.. rescues who promised to help me in the last 4 years and never stepped up. I have every bit of correspondence from those who promised to help me and did nothing.. I did the right thing.. saved, loved and took care of precious kitties that were left with me by an illegitimate rescue.
I’ve exhausted all of my savings.. everything I had to care for all of the cats abandoned with me. I put them before my own needs. Furkids, and others.. what have you given up lately? Are you on EBT? Are you living under poverty level?All off my files from the last 4 years will be open for observation to the appropriate authorities, including my State Representative. Many of them already know your lack of compassion in my case, but step 2 is now in place. You had 4 years to step up rescues… I know who you are.
–This is for my beloved friend, (name removed for privacy), and all the kitties who deserved more”
She isn’t the only foster who has suffered from this rescue basically abandoning the cats. Another foster, who is friends with the first foster since they were involved with the same collapsed rescue, is now in a nursing home, due to declining health caused by stress over this situation. Since going into a nursing home, the animal advocate community has come together to help. Twelve of those cats remain without permanent homes.
That rescue is making the claim that the women refused to hand the cats over. It has taken a long time to get the ball rolling on a resolution, because when a foster is left with cats that legally belong to a rescue, they’re not allowed to find homes for the cats without the permission of the rescue. So this has turned out to be a very messed-up situation.
Now for the kicker. Both of these fosters reached out to other rescues on the east coast, especially those in Georgia. The rescues promised to help, then reneged on their promise. One of the fosters has contacted the Georgia Department of Agriculture for help.
What I really wonder is whether the rescues who had promised help really intended to help in the first place. I have a lot of friends in rescue, and have seen several post the following statement after their friends asked for help with their own cats.
“Do not ask me for help with your personal cats, or with cats you bring home from work who need homes.”
This is understandable, because rescues are there to save urgent cats in high-kill shelters. It’s a race against time to save these cats before a shelter makes the decision to kill. A cat in the home of a foster, any foster, is technically safer than a cat in the shelter. Even if that foster is about to lose her home, has been placed on government assistance, and is a mental train wreck.
It’s reported that about 25% of rescues are really hoarders in disguise. Whether that is true or not, rescues are mentally stressed as they realize they can’t save them all. It isn’t hard to imagine a rescue taking in more cats than they can comfortable handle, even if they have a good foster system. There never was a slow-down during kitten season this past year in many areas, which only compounded the problem.
I’ve heard a few rescues ask if they must become “hoarders” to keep up with the influx of cats. I’ve also heard of hoarders being caught who may not be legitimate hoarders, meaning they don’t suffer from a mental condition. After the fact, rescues ask why a person with too many cats didn’t reach out for help from them. Perhaps its the above comment from area rescues asking their friends NOT to ask for their help.
As I said before, rescues aren’t there to help out their friends with stray cats. Both of my friends in Georgia learned this the hard way. The only option open to the ladies was to take the cats to a local shelter, where kill rates are just as high as in South Carolina shelters. They chose not to do this, and have suffered physically, mentally and financially.
It would be easy to ask why the fosters chose to keep these cats, even after they were cleared to find them homes on their own. Those homes just aren’t there, and many cat caregivers seem to take a “vow of poverty.” Craigslist is a dangerous joke, and the freebie section of local newspapers are just as dangerous for a cat, as well as an owner who may go to that persons home for a “home check.” A couple in Georgia in this very area was murdered last week while answering a Craigslist ad.
It would also be easy to blame rescues for not stepping in to help. The ultimate blame lies with the cat-owning public, who take litter after litter of kittens to the local shelter, rather than having their cats sterilized. It’s just sad the system is the way it is. Cat rescues are collapsing every day due to the failure to spay or neuter. Some collapse due to financial reasons, others from the stress of trying to save them all, all the while battling medical expenses and the lack of quality fosters.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned here. To not rescue more cats than you have fosters available for. For fosters to only take in as many cats as they can comfortably handle. And to research any rescue to be sure it’s legit. Anyone can call themselves a rescue, but consistency is what backs it up. We also see what happens when the public refuses to “fix” their personal cats.
Unfortunately, in the end, it’s the cat who suffers from man’s failure to protect them in every way possible. Your comments are welcome.
I’ve heard from the other foster, who’s in the biggest trouble with caring for the cats. We’re going to try and do a YouCaring webpage so people can donate. KC Day said she’d get in touch with her.
Thank you all, I’m the other foster. In my case the rescue used a Chip-In account to raise money for rescue, pulling, vetting for all of the cats, and kept all of the money instead of it going to the cats in my care. Shortly after this, she was shut down by her local Humane Society and her cats were taken away. This woman claimed that I didn’t want to give her the cats, even though I had just driven 10 cats all the way to NE Tennessee to her. I wanted to take more, but she would not let me bring her more. She said I could bring the rest after the holidays. She had no car, and I had to get a hotel, etc as this was 5+ hrs one way up in the mountains. This woman was never a legitimate rescue, just had many people fooled. I have emails from her of the temporary foster situation I would be in. It started out as 2 weeks. It’s been a very tough 4+ years. I would be very grateful for any help in finding these kitties homes. I have posted their photos on my cat page. (CaronParis Cats)
Thank you, Caron
Hi Caron, your comment is published. Thanks for commenting.
I do feel for those poor women. Is there anything we can do to offer them some financial support? I’d be happy to make a donation toward the care of the cats. If we could raise enough support we might be able to help relieve some of the financial pressures.
Never has the phrase “No good deed goes unpunished” been so apt 🙁
Thank you Elisa, for writing this article and Michael for publishing it here.
I am a close friend of both of the women mentioned in this article. I got involved way back in 2010 when one of them came to me for help with the 13 sick kittens she had pulled for an out-of-state rescue. Her understanding with the rescue owner was that she would just be a short term fosterer until the cats could be transported to the rescues location.
All the cats had contracted a contagious disease at this shelter and my friend was struggling to pay for the necessary vet visits and medications on a small pension from her deceased husbands job and her very irregular part time job. When my friend contacted this rescue for help, she was basically told the cats were now her problem. Compounding this situation, the actual rescue listed on the pull paperwork was a different rescue, one here in GA, as at that time, our Dept of Agriculature required any rescues who pulled from GA shelters to have a GA registered license.
My friend contacted the GA rescue, who informed her that they were not responsible for the cats,as they had legally transferred them to the out of state rescue. However, they were unwilling or unable to provide such paperwork.
Thankfully the cats recovered, although some contracted a dental disease called stomatis which is an immune disorder that inflames the gums. Recommended treatment is total tooth removal.
My friend continuously tried to place the cats, either directly with adopters or with other rescues. She successfully placed about half, over that four year time period. The majority of the time, her pleas for assistance were either met with silence, refusal, or promises of help that never came.
Meanwhile, her health and financial situation declined. She was always wondering and worrying about how she was going to provide basic food and litter, plus any needed vet care. Over the years, she has spent thousands at her vet to treat these cats, and several more thousands to support them.
I moved in with my friend in July 2013. During that time I helped care for the cats, and also helped her obtain a large donation of food from a rescue friend. Without that kind assistance, I don’t know how the cats would have been fed, the situation was that severe.
In April 2014, her health reached the point where she could no longer care for herself. She went into an assisted living facility, while I stayed to take care of the cats and her home.
I too, requested help in placing the remaining five foster cats. A friend offered to adopt one.
By November, the house was being readied for sale, and I needed to move. My options were to surrender the cats as owner surrenders to our local Animal Control, or move and take the cats with me.
I chose the later. To surrender them now would have meant all my friend’s efforts, money, and time, were for nothing.
For me, our situation highlights a flaw in the way we rescue cats. There was little or no accountability as the cats’ legal status was never clarified. Under GA law, the pulling rescue owned the cats..until they legally transferred them, either by adoption or to another rescue. They claim the cats were transferred, but there was no supporting documentation. The out of state rescue claims my friend accepted the cats and would not turn them over to her rescue. My friend says that the cats were abandoned with her. They became my friend’s property, and later mine, solely due to our commitment to take care of them the best we could.
When everything is done “off the record” with no paper trail, everyone suffers…in this case its a sad ending for my one friend and and an ongoing issue for the other one, who still is trying to place cats abandoned in her care over four years ago.
Hi KC Day, thanks for taking the time to write a full comment. The last 2 paras interest me the most. The legal transfer of ownership and therefore responsibility became, as you say, blurred and too vague. This allows bad behavior to creep in and indeed it encourages it. There has to be a simple hard copy contract or email contract between fosterer and rescue.
Is there normally documentary evidence of a contract in these sorts of arrangements or is it more normal to do things solely verbally?
Of course I didn’t check to see if ignorant people posted these. It doesn’t say fosterers needed. http://www.google.com/search?q=cat+fosters+needed&client=ms-opera-mini-android&channel=new&prmd=ivns&ei=mKrKVJbcCtK0ogSNs4HgDg&start=20&sa=N
I think you used an alternative and less correct but well-used version.
Technically, in terms of pure English ‘fosterer’ is correct but English is not fixed in cement. It is a fluid language.
I actually have a proofreader on some of my articles. I’ll have that other good one for you for Saturday. One of the ladies who has some of these cats is supposed to comment. I hope she does because I want more details on what they’re going through.
She has commented. Great comment.
What a heart-rending article. I can’t begin to imagine the depth of emotional and financial stress those abandoned foster carers must be dealing with.
I don’t know why after decades of educating the public, there’s still far too many people who don’t sterlise their pets. I can fully appreciate why many shelters are keen to neuter kittens before re-homing them. It seems to be the only solution to this ever-growing problem.
I agree Michele, I can sense a lot of anguish here reading between the lines. I can also sense little change in the numbers of irresponsible cat owners.