In the Lake Lowell area of Boise, Idaho, USA, there are reports by a local resident that many hundreds of domestic cats are being abandoned. The resident, Melissa Blackmer, says that she moved to the Lake Lowell area two years ago. She began to notice an unusual number of stray cats. Many were friendly. She says that they are definitely pets because they are friendly and they walk up to you. They are also hungry.
In the past year she has rescued 40 cats from the area. These are the lucky ones. She says that they starve and freeze in the winter and that there are lots of predators in the area. She says that the number of abandoned cat must be at least in the hundreds. She stresses that this is probably a conservative number.
Her theory is that cat owners believe that there are mice and birds in the area so they assume that their cat will survive. We know that this is not necessarily true. It is rarely true because domestic cats have often lost the ability to survive in the wild especially under harsh conditions. Some will survive but a lot will struggle to do so.
She also believes that another reason why cats are being abandoned in the area in such high numbers is because the owners are worried that if they take their cat to the Humane Society they are going to be euthanized. They try and avoid that. They want to give their cat a life but they don’t want to look after their cat. It’s a very peculiar decision because they are putting their cat through a very harsh time with the distinct possibility of death at the end. They are mistaken if they assume that their cats will be automatically euthanized at a cat rescue organization.
A third reason is that sometimes neighbors who don’t like cats dump their neighbor’s cat in the area to get rid of him or her. That’s a crime of course but no one is watching. No one gets caught. This is one reason why outside cats are so vulnerable.
Because of the high number of cats that Melissa is faced with she has started a Facebook page to try and reunite them with their owners and if that’s not possible to rehome them. You might like to visit the page: Lost and Found Pets from Lake Lowell. I’m sure that she is looking for foster carers and partners with local shelters to house them. And she’s always looking for volunteers to help.
She says, “I can’t imagine dumping an animal where it may not survive,”
“She also believes that another reason why cats are being abandoned in the area in such high numbers is because the owners are worried that if they take their cat to the Humane Society they are going to be euthanized”
So, instead, ppl just DUMP their pet~how stupid! Most of them will suffer, they’ll either starve or freeze to death. It would be better to just euthanize them!! Oh wait, that would cost $$ n ‘you’ dont wanna spend $$ on a pet you’re just tossing out!!!
Well some people (a lot?) are slightly stupid or careless or unthinking. It is called the human condition.
Any domestic pet weather acat or a dog will rarely survive if abandoned on the streets or a wooded countryside.A Pet cat isaccustomed to “Babysitting” by its human owners and hence loses its wild predatory hunting instincts.In the wild it would be difficult for a cat to fing or hunt its food beside’s avoiding “CAT FIGHTS” with the dominant cat’s of the locality.
Yes, absolutely Rudolph. I hope that you are keeping well and your cats.
This is being done on advice of HSUS, ASPCA, Alley Cat Allies, and Maddies Fund, one of their many programs under the TNR umbrella. “Return to Field”, or more commonly posted as just RTF.
“Return to Field: Sterilize, vaccinate and return healthy unowned shelter cats to the location of origin as an alternative to euthanasia.”
Unowned shelter-cats are tame cats that nobody wanted to or could not adopt because they already have too many cats.
I don’t know why you are concerned about this, this is common practice in every state and nation today where they promote TNR policies and get all shelters to go “no kill”. It’s part of the solution that you widely promote. Now you’re complaining about it? I don’t get it.
Dale, you are talking absolute rubbish. I don’t know why. Perhaps you have failed to read the article properly. This is about pet owners abandoning their pets at a certain site in the USA. This is not about trap neuter return and feral cat programs. Really, either you are very stupid or you’re deliberately trying to wind me up. Either way your comment is idiotic. Don’t bother to comment again.
Why did you delete the links I provided that prove what I say is 100% true? Everyone who has had any contact with ASPCA, HSUS, Alley Cat Allies, or promotes Maddies Fund’s “no kill” 1-million-cats challenge knows about this. Why are you denying it now? I don’t know, maybe you just like looking foolish with egg on your face. Is that the reason?
I deleted the links because they sometimes break and I have to repair them increasing site maintenance time and you have made your point without the need for links. Your comment is still idiotic. Don’t comment again as it won’t be published.
OH man this is unconscionable. My first guess was that rescuers, friends of hoarders and or animal shelters/control facilities are dumping them. And if that’s the case then they are adding insult to injury because they’re probably making room for the population explosion of pit bull dogs they have been taking in – and the over-the-top, misguided sentiment many people have for those animals.