so sad - get your tissue

my local shelter

LACONIA — After taking 16 sick and malnourished kittens and cats into its custody, the New Hampshire Humane Society is appealing for financial resources to help pay for their medical treatment, and is warning people about the dangers of being ill-prepared to care for animals that they are breeding.

The society, which serves 26 communities in the greater Lakes Region, is currently treating the pedigreed American Curls and Scottish Folds cats that a person in the area was breeding for profit, officials said.

The same individual, said society spokesperson Marylee Gorham, had come to the society back in May and asked that the kittens and cats be euthanized, claiming that they all had feline leukemia and/or feline HIV.

When told that euthanization could be done only after the animals had been tested and it was confirmed they had the diseases, the person left. The person came back to the society last week and said care was needed for the cats, said Gorham.

Upon testing, none of the kittens and cats, which range in age from 6 weeks to between 4-5 years old, were found to have either feline leukemia or HIV, Gorham said, leading society officials to suspect that their owner may have been overwhelmed by trying to care for them and was asking the society to help do some "house cleaning."

Gorham said the health officer in the community in which the cat owner lives is currently investigating the situation.

The cats and kittens, one of which has died since being brought to the society, are all very malnourished.

"They're bags of bones," said Gorham, explaining that upon arrival at the society, the felines "knew to eat canned cat food but not one of them knew to eat dry cat food and they were eating the cat litter out of the cat boxes. Some of them were so weak that we had to feed them by hand."

Depending on how the authorities proceed, the society is poised to go back to the cat owner's residence to recover additional animals, said Gorham.

"It's a classic situation where people think they can make money rearing animals, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that if you have the money and wherewithal to take care of medical issues," said Gorham who termed this an incident of "passive neglect."

"Any ethical breeder, whether cat or dog, knows it's not a financial plan that will make you a wealthy person. The humane society has no stand against breeding except that the animals should be taken care of properly. To produce animals of quality is not something you can do on the cheap."

The felines who are now at the society, some clinging to life, seem to bear out that view. The animals have a variety of afflictions, including ear mites, fleas, tapeworms, coccidia, roundworms, and skin infections. Some had arrhythmias, muscle wasting, and pneumonia, and some are blind.

They lived in what Gorham described as "a filthy environment," adding that to allow them to live "in such conditions, ignoring their medical needs, but continuing to tax their weakened bodies with yet another litter of kittens, is unconscionable."

The society is keeping the frailest of the kittens and cats, one of which was nicknamed "Pop Tart," alive through the use of the society's donated incubator and through the efforts of Dr. Robert MacDonald, DVM.

The incubator is needed, explained Gorham, because once a cat or dog's internal body temperature drops below 99 degrees, its organs will begin shutting down and death will soon follow. She believes the device has saved several lives already.

The society, which has contracts with its service communities but which also relies heavily on donations, has in one week already spent over $1,500 taking care of the kittens and cats which are housed in a separate wing at the shelter on Meredith Center Road in Laconia.

Donations, marked "Willow Fund," can be made to the New Hampshire Humane Society in care of P.O. Box 572, Laconia, NH 03246. The society also welcomes gifts of basic clay cat litter and/or canned food to help the kittens and cats and kittens.

Also, anyone who may be interested in fostering some of the kittens and cats, which will be ready for adoption in possibly a months' time or longer, is asked to contact Gorham at the Humane Society at 524-8236 ext. 309.

 

That really is sad, Mary_NH. Especially the cats that became blind. Imagine going blind and being severely ill. Not to mention being pregnant over and over again. These poor animals. I really hope there is a better place after this world that all living beings go to when their time is up, because a lot of them have just suffered too much in this life. It's just so unfair.

 

Ohhhhh That is sad, its so unfair.... :cry: :cry:

 

So tragic. :cry: