we ended up with 5 new babies yesterday...
they are Annie's babies...
our Annie...
who was supposed to be fixed a couple of months ago through the rescue we work with...
time after time, it was planned for her to go and things fell through...
the rescue is broke...
completely broke, so we were going to pay for her to be spayed...
through their vet that does all the vetting for the kittens...
when the kittens with special needs cannot be adopted out...
they stay with us and we have kept those that rescue helps with...
Annie was one of those double adoption fails...
and from now on, will be ours from here on out...
as soon as the babies are old enough, we will have her spayed...
when we first started working with this rescue group...
it was wonderful and everything worked...
we bottle fed and as soon as they were ready...
they were picked up and moved onto the next stop...
whether it be adoption or the next foster home until they were adopted out...
they were so good about vetting and testing as soon as we could get them big enough...
picking them up when they were on hard food and water...
so we were "open" to take in more bottle feeders...
people who bottle feed are hard to come by...
you have to be home all the time when they come in and are nursing every few hours...
the rescues provide the food and all that you need most of the time...
but our contribution to the program...
besides the time and energy...
is to do this on our own...
and they do help us with our vetting...
we get things done at their cost...
and there are rules you have to follow...
and its been good for a long time...
but the last year or so...
it hasn't been like this...
there is no where for them to go when they are ready...
and we are "stuck" with litter after litter...
so I post them online and let them go for free to good homes with people who WILL vet them on their own and provide them with all they will ever need...
its not easy to do and we are getting so tired of doing this alone...
so we made the decision...
no more...
BUT...
the two that came in came from a neighbor who found them in his garage...
and we do have a coyote problem here...
they would have been killed if left on their own...
their mother is feral...
and we do have a reputation here...
people know we do this and they get dropped off here...
that's fine...
and the rescue will let us vet at their cost for them to get them so we can get them where they need to be...
which is a big help or we couldn't do it...
and all of this is not the fault of the cat part of the rescue...
its the dog part...
the people in charge of the dogs have spent all the money in the rescue...
the dog part and the cat part and the seed money to start the group that was donated years ago...
which you are not allowed to ever spend...
you spend the interest off of it and raise more money in other ways...
and its totally sad when people do things the wrong way...
adoptions are down but the lack of spaying and neutering is way up...
litter after litter proves that...
and people don't seem to get that...
we are fighting a losing battle...
and it won't be long before they will all have to be put down because there is no where for them to go...
and the animals lose...
we simply need more foster homes...
more intelligent people running things...
especially those in control of the money...
and more vets who will step up and stop charging really high fees for having things done...
people won't adopt when it costs more to vet an animal than it does to go to a doctor yourself...
and we know they are over charging on most things...
or they do adopt and never see a vet...
and those people who just want one litter out of their pet and then call us when it happens and they cannot find homes for them and won't keep them their selves...
so, that is why we are not doing any more from the rescue...
and there will be few from around here, too...
we just do not have the resources to keep doing this...
and homes for them are going to dry up when I have used all my connections to get them homes...
PLEASE...
spay and neuter...
donate to your local shelters...
money, food, supplies...
most of the time the budgets are low or gone...
take a furrball home with you!
each one going out makes a big difference...
sorry for the rant...
but I hope this explains where we are right now and what's going on...
and why we have to stop doing what we do...
on a large scale...
pray we can find all of these babies good homes...
