Pets Relinquished by IRRESPONSIBLE OWNERS

For people actively involved in the humane world, we always hear a lot of stories about the              daily happenings at animal shelters. 


Unfortunately last week, a story one shelter worker recounted
made her blood pressure rise as she explained to me the turn of
events.  She had been working with the cats at the facility when
she received a call on her walkie-talkie. There was a cat in the
front office that needed to be taken back to the kennels. 



When she arrived at the customer service desk,

she encountered two women who were laughing and discussing the cutest
dresses that were at a particular store in South Coast Plaza.  Beside
one of the women was a cat carrier containing a very frightened and
distressed kitty.




The shelter employee interrupted the two women and asked if
the cat was a stray that they had found.  One of the women replied, “Oh
no.  This is my cat. I’m moving so I am bringing it here.” Then, without skipping
a  beat, the woman got back to her conversation about the latest sale on women’s apparel.  




Looking at the paperwork that had been left on top of the
cat carrier, the shelter employee noticed that this scared
little pet had lived with its owner for TEN years.  And now,
through no fault of its own, it was being dumped like last season’s
fashions, so that its owner could move on with the next phase of
her life.  




Pulling together all the self-control she could muster, the
shelter employee held her tongue (as is required in her role as public servant)
and took the poor kitty back into the kennels where she placed
it into a cold and solitary cage.  She heard the cat’s owner say in a
cheerful voice as she walked away, “Bye Peewee.”  And then the two
women were off to the mall, seemingly without even a second
thought for the terrified cat.




Angry cannot even describe how the shelter employee was
feeling at that point in time. Yet she recognized that she
needed to pull herself together quickly because the animals needed her and
if she let these almost daily  occurrences
get the best of her, she wouldn’t be able to do much good. 
But still, it was clear to her that a ten-year-old cat in
a shelter didn’t have the greatest odds of being adopted and she
could not understand how someone could care for a pet for so long and
then simply wash one’s hands of it. She was disgusted, as am I.




Public animal shelters do charge an
owner relinquishment fee to people who give up their pets. However it
is nominal, and in reality doesn’t even cover the costs of the initial
veterinary exam.  




Even for people who don’t have any particular affection
for animals, this should raise some red flags.  What we are
essentially doing is allowing irresponsible pet owners to place the
financial burden of taking care of their 
discarded pets via expenditure of tax dollars.  That should
not be OK with anyone. But that’s what we do.



My concern, however, isn’t for the fiscal consequences; but
rather for the innocent living beings who don’t understand why they
are losing their familiar homes and being put into scary, lonely
cages, with unfamiliar scents and sounds all around them.  




Nevertheless, if I can convince Joe Taxpayer that this is a
problem – then perhaps we can solve both predicaments.




Here is what needs to be done.  First, all
pets including cats should be licensed and microchipped.  




Next, there should be a waiting period and counseling for
those individuals who wish to give up their pets.  Alternatives to
abandoning a companion animal at a shelter should be discussed, i.e.,
finding a friend, family    member
or co-worker who may be able to take in a pet.  





Finally, if a shelter does ultimately take custody of
an animal, its owner should be responsible for all costs relating to its
care and maintenance until the pet is adopted.  There is no reason
for the rest of society to pay for the cavalier irresponsibility of so
many pet owners.  And there is certainly no reason for a pet to
pay, with suffering, fear, and potentially its life.