swiftcurrentonline ad for “Need Home For Kitten Asap!!” and OUR RESPONSE

Last week we received a phone call from a woman who had a single kitten that was sick. As it turns out she had already left its littermates and another mom and kittens in a box in our catchpen. One of the littermates of the sick kitten that she had was dead and the other two did not look very well either. The other two were confirmed ringworm cases and likely carrying panleukopenia which presents with bloody diarrhea and not a good prognosis. Last year we lost 15 kittens to panleukopenia and had to close the Shelter to feline admissions and adoptions for 6 weeks. Panleukopenia and ringworm are highly contagious. At present time we are housing 36 felines with at least 15 moms and kittens waiting for admittance from our Foster homes. As a result we could not in good conscience admit these felines into the Shelter without placing all of our present residents at risk.

The following is her ad:

NEED HOME for Kitten ASAP!!

NewI found a sick kitten in a bush, he was close to death. I took him home, and nursed him back to health! he is now very Lively, Eating hard food & his eyes are Shining bright! But he is Sick 🙁 he’s got a Skin condition called Ringworm, i took him to the SPCA and they automatically we’re going to issue a PutDown … i cannot just have him put down. I DESPERATELY need to find someone to Take this kitten and give him medication for Ringworm!! Please, someone help, i do not have the cash to get meds

Price: $ 00

Contact:
Sara
306
s9h0n2
Swift Current, SK

Following is my response to her ad:

Sara: I hope that you understand what a negative effect your ad will have on adoptions through the SPCA. Last year we took in over 200 cats and kittens and found homes for all but those with severe aggression or disease or catastrophic injury. Last summer because of panleukopenia we had 15 kittens die at the Shelter and the Shelter was closed down for 6 weeks for cat intake and adoptions as we morally could not adopt out kittens until we knew that the outbreak had passed. Since January 1 of this year, we had only euthanized 4 cats due to illness or catastrophic injury until you chose to bring the momma cat and two batches of kittens to us. That number then tripled because of choices you made. If you had not placed the older sickly kittens in with the mom and 4 healthy looking younger ones, then likely only the sickly ones would have been euthanized. At present we have 36 felines in the Shelter with 1 mom with 3 kittens, 1 pregnant mom and 10 other kittens in foster care awaiting openings at the Shelter so at least 15 more felines awaiting homes. That is 51 felines plus however many kittens the pregnant mom has. Unlike the previous managers, I will not euthanize for space for other animals as I could not live with doing that. I do not take lightly the decision to euthanize any animals but I have to look at what is best for the rest of the animals at the Shelter. In this case, bringing sickly kittens in (one of which had already died) only compromises the health of the rest of the facility. I am not prepared to have more than a dozen kittens die again because of infection from sick ones brought to the Shelter. We are overwhelmed with healthy cats and kittens and they deserve homes too. I am not the monster that you are trying to make me out to be. I found your ad personally very hurtful but more importantly very frustrating and hurtful to the SPCA as we are doing our best to find homes for so many unwanted animals. We are trying to get rid of the reputation that lots of animals are euthanized here and your ad has now undone several months of work towards that goal. Your negativity will not help all of the other felines that we are trying to find homes for: 51 felines that are waiting for their forever families. Think about those cats too when you speak so negatively of the SPCA.  I believe that your ad is not giving the rest of the cats here a fair shake in getting homes. And to top it off: you lied about coming to the Shelter. A phone call to the Shelter does not let you see what is actually happening here. You need to make the time to come in and see all of the cats and kittens we are desperately looking for homes for. By the way: did you take the kitten to the vet? If you did not you cannot be sure that it is healthy and even then, panleukopenia may take a week or two to show up, more than enough time to infect other kittens  if you give this kitten to someone who has cats and kittens who have not been vaccinated against panleukopenia. You must tell whoever takes this kitten from you that its litter mate was dead upon arrival here and that the other two had bloody diarrhea. I noticed that you said that the kitten has perked up but this does not mean that you are out of the woods either. The kitten can become ill again (if it is carrying panleukopenia as the vets and I suspected) and it can shed the virus for sometime in its feces, allowing other cats and kittens that are not vaccinated to become infected. Please be responsible and at the very least have someone call the vet clinic or the SPCA regarding what needs to be in place in order to ensure that no other kittens die because of this. As well: ringworm will not make the kittens look that sick. There is likely another underlying infection which we suspect is panleukopenia. When the kitten goes into a new home, it can be stressful (even though having a home is a good thing) because of the change. The kitten may become ill again due to the stress and can again infect other felines in the home. If you care at all about other cats and kittens wellness and chances at finding homes please print an apology to the SPCA regarding your off the cuff comments. You do not have to indicate that you lied about coming here, just that you did not giving all of the information vital to the welfare of the kitten and its new owners and other feline family members.

– end of reply

Her ad I fear will undercut all of the good public relations we have been working on in the past year. Only through positive communications and partnerships within the community will we be able to continue on the road we have taken in finding forever homes for all of the cats and kittens that come to us and not euthanizing animals for to make space for others. Please continue to support your local SPCA. For those people who have not had the opportunity to visit the Shelter, come out and see us. We encourage volunteers to drop in at their convenience. Please judge our facility for yourselves.